Toll from Himachal landslide goes up to 19

The Kinnaur district administration in Himachal said one more fork line machine has been pressed into service to trace the bodies feared trapped under the rubble.

The toll from the landslide in Himachal Pradesh's Kinnaur, which buried at least five vehicles on a road on Wednesday, rose to 19 with the recovery of two more bodies from the rubble on Saturday, said deputy commissioner Abid Hussain Sadiq.

Rescue operations being carried out at Nigulsari, the landslide site in Himachal's Kinnaur. (HT PHOTO)

Sadiq said the bodies are scattered around 50-100 feet radius of the bus that was among the vehicles buried under the landslide. He added rescue operations are being repeatedly hampered due to shooting stones.

Teams from Indo-Tibetan Border Police, National Disaster Response Force, the Army, and Police were involved in the operation.

The district administration said one more fork line machine has been pressed into service to trace the bodies feared trapped under the rubble. On Friday, it released a list of the 13 people who were on the bus.

“We are hopeful that by (Saturday) evening, we would be able to retrieve more bodies," said police superintendent Sarju Ram Rana.

Separately, the flow of the Chanbdrabagha tributary of Chenab, which was obstructed due to a landslide, has returned to normal. "The district administration, as a precautionary measure, has asked the villages downstream to remain alert,” said deputy commissioner (Lahaul-Spiti) Neeraj Kumar.