Sitting in northern India, the state of Himachal Pradesh is enriched with natural beauty that attracts thousands of tourists each year. But the region becomes highly unstable in the monsoon. Being located in the ecologically fragile Himalayan belt, the state witnesses several natural disasters including landslides, lightning strikes and flash flooding incidents.
Recently, nine tourists were killed after a huge boulder during a landslide smashed into their minibus traveler in Sangla Valley of Himachal’s Kinnaur district on July 25.
Kinnaur Superintendent of Police S R Rana said that eight of the victims were killed in the vehicle as it was knocked off the road by a huge boulder from the landslide. The ninth victim succumbed to injuries in a local hospital. There were four women and five men amongst the dead.
A 27-year-old naval officer from Chhattisgarh’s Korba district and his US-based friend; a 34-year-old woman Ayurveda doctor from Jaipur; and three members of a family — a young chartered accountant, his sister, and their mother — from Sikar in Rajasthan were among the dead.
A bridge collapsed after another boulder smashed through it during a landslide in Sangla Valley of Himachal’s Kinnaur district | Image: Pradeep Kumar/Indian Express
A 27-year-old woman from Nagpur also died in the accident, along with the driver from Delhi. The ninth victim’s address still remains uncertain. Only two of the 11 people in the vehicle were able to escape death with a few injuries. A 45-year-old local man also suffered injuries while working in the fields during the mishap.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his grief and announced an ex-gratia of Rs. 2 lakh each from PMNRF to the families of the deceased.
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jairam Thakur also announced an ex-gratia of Rs. 4 lakh each to the kin of those who died in the accident.
The tourists were on their way to Sangla from Chitkul, on the Sangla-Bateseri road near Bateseri village when a colossal landslide happened on the hill above them, which sent giant boulders progressing down the slope.
According to Kinnaur Deputy Commissioner Abid Hussain Sadiq, it was a bright, sunny day and the landslide was unanticipated. He said that the minibus rolled down a gorge after being knocked out by the boulder. Locals were the first to arrive at the accident spot and had taken the injured to hospital by the time the officials arrived from Reckong Peo.
The landslide blocked a major part of the road, which stranded many travelers for hours | Image: Pradeep Kumar/Indian Express
Moreover, a bridge collapsed after a boulder smashed through it, while some houses also sustained damage. The severity of this landslide can be assessed by the fact that boulders moved at such a high momentum that one of them was able to cause the iron bridge to collapse completely.
On July 24, Himachal Pradesh DGP Sanjay Kundu had raised alarm about the fragile ecological condition of the state’s water bodies and asked people to stay away from such places.
Via: India TV News