9 killed, 3 injured in multiple landslides in Himachal Pradesh

Nine people were killed and many others were injured in multiple landslides in Himachal Pradesh’s Kinnaur district on Sunday.

According to reports, 11 people, including the driver, were travelling to Chitkul, a popular tourist spot, in a vehicle, on which heavy boulders fell, killing eight people and injuring others. Another tourist succumbed when he was being taken to a hospital. In a similar incident, one person was injured in another landslide in Kinnaur district.

“Nine people died, and three were injured after boulders rolled downhill due to a landslide in Kinnaur district. Batseri bridge collapsed in the incident. A rescue team is present at the spot,” Superintendent of Police (SP), Kinnaur, Saju Ram Rana said.

A video showing the collapse of the Basteri bridge in Sangla valley as boulders crashed down on the bridge emerged on social media. The boulders also damaged houses located nearby.

Authorities had advised tourists against travelling to destinations prone to accidents as monsoons had wreaked havoc in the state over the last week.

According to reports, four women and five men were killed in the accident. The incident took place around 2.15 pm on Sunday when the rock boulders suddenly started rolling down from the high mountain.

Also read: Himachal Pradesh braces for heavy rainfall over the next 5 days

A massive splash was heard in the Baspa river as the first boulder went into the river and then another boulder hit the bridge, which broke down after the hit.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his grief over the death of nine people in the landslides. “An ex-gratia of ₹2 lakh each from PMNRF would be given to the next of kin of those who lost their lives in an accident in Kinnaur, Himachal Pradesh. Rs. 50,000 would be given to the injured,” the PMO handle tweeted.