Kullu landslide: 4 dead, 3 injured as houses collapse; 1 child missing

SHIMLA: Four members of a family died and three others were injured after a landslide struck two houses in Shamani village of Nirmand sub-division in Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh on the intervening night of September 8 and 9. An 8-year-old girl is missing in the incident. All the victims were sleeping when the landslide razed the houses, killing them on the spot. On hearing the commotion, locals rushed to the site and managed to rescue three persons alive from the debris. The injured were taken to a nearby hospital, and their condition is stated to be stable. Later, a team of the local administration retrieved four bodies from the debris. The deceased have been identified as Chuni Lal (32), his wife Anju (25), their 5-year-old son Bhupesh, and his mother Baresti Devi (50).

The missing child, Jagriti, is the daughter of Chuni Lal. The injured have been identified as Shiv Ram (52), father of Chuni Lal, Dharam Dass (48), and Kala Devi (45), wife of Dharam Dass. Nirmand SDM Manmohan Singh said that a search operation has been launched at the landslide site to find the missing child. On September 3 and 4, nine people had died in two landslide incidents in the Akhara Bazaar of Kullu town. Meanwhile, the death toll has reached 370 in Himachal Pradesh so far this monsoon.