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Search intensifies for Manipur landslide victims; 17 dead, 47 still missing
"Searches are continuing for the others... not confirmed how many are buried," P Doungel, director-general of Manipur Police, was quoted by news agency ANI.
Nine more bodies have been recovered after a landslide Thursday at a railway construction site in Manipur's Noney region. Rescuers resumed search and clearing operations at the site near Tupul city this morning after an overnight halt with 47 people still missing. So far 17 people - 14 Army personnel, two construction workers and one unidentified person - have died in the landslide that was triggered by weeks of heavy rainfall, officials said.
"Searches are continuing for the others... not confirmed how many are buried," P Doungel, director-general of Manipur Police, was quoted by news agency ANI.
The landslide hit sometime late Wednesday and early Thursday near where the 107 Territorial Army unit had been deployed to protect railway construction workers were building a line from Jiribam to Imphal.
Northeast Frontier Railway said the landslide was triggered by incessant rains and also damaged the Tupul railway station building.
Teams from the railways, civil administration and the national and state disaster response forces (NDRF, SDRF) are carrying out search-rescue operations.
Visuals shared on social media also show locals lending a helping hand.
Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh has visited the site. "In the landslide-affected sites of Tupul... ministers of the state government, MLAs and officials are also camping to oversee the rescue operation. The loss of lives, including our armed forces personnel, is deeply saddening. We still have over 50 missing persons to be found," he tweeted.
Other parties, including the Congress, also took to social media to express condolences to the bereaved families.
Continuous rainfall over the past three weeks has wreaked havoc across the country's northeast. An estimated 200 people have been killed in rains and mudslides in Assam, Manipur, Tripura and Sikkim, while lakhs have been displaced.
(With agency inputs)
