2 men killed as tree falls on parked truck in Kangra
The incident took place in Khawa village near Sadon, which falls under the Nagrota Bagwan sub-division. Officials identified the victims as Tek Chand, a resident of Mahal, and Sanjeev Kumar from Masal Bari in Dehra tehsil— both in Kangra district
Two men were killed after a banyan tree uprooted during a storm and fell on a parked truck on Monday morning in Himachal’s Kangra district, officials said, adding that the victims were asleep in the vehicle at the time.
The incident took place in Khawa village near Sadon, which falls under the Nagrota Bagwan sub-division. Officials identified the victims as Tek Chand, a resident of Mahal, and Sanjeev Kumar from Masal Bari in Dehra tehsil— both in Kangra district.
The truck, which was loaded with bricks for a scheduled delivery later in the day and parked by the roadside, was crushed under the weight of the tree. According to reports, the banyan tree had a girth of nearly 50 feet.
Locals started a rescue attempt and were later joined by the administration and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) staffers. The bodies were recovered after a two-hour operation. An ex-gratia compensation of ₹10,000 each was announced.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), gusty winds were reported in Reckong Peo (54 kmph), Hamirpur Neri (52 kmph), Bilaspur (50 kmph), Sundernagar (43 kmph) and Hamirpur (37 kmph). In Mandi, several areas were affected by the storm, hundreds of trees uprooted, and dozens of vehicles parked in the open damaged. Towers collapsed at multiple places as well.
The weather office said thunderstorms were reported in Kangra, Palampur, Jot, Kalpa, Mandi and Sundernagar. Rainfall was recorded in Mandi (16.4 mm), Kukumseri (13.2 mm) and Kangra (12.4 mm).
