Lagatar24 Desk
Shimla, August 17: 21 individuals were reported missing earlier this week when a significant landslide devastated the Summer Hill area of Shimla. As of Thursday, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) reported that 13 of those bodies have been found.
NDRF Inspector Naseef Khan said, “The rescue and search operation has been underway for 4 days. The Army, SDRF and the police are engaged in the ongoing rescue operations here. Of the 21 people missing, 13 bodies have been recovered so far.”
Prior to this incident, a family suffered fatalities spanning three generations when a temple in the Summer Hill area of Shimla district washed away as a result of a landslide brought on by Monday’s cloudburst.
Seven family members including three children were inside the Shiv temple when it fell, according to officials.
In the meantime, Western Air Command helicopters have completed more than 50 flights over the past 48 hours, saving more than 780 people from flood-affected areas in Kangra district, Himachal Pradesh, Indian Air Force authorities informed on Wednesday.
The flood-stricken areas of Indora and Fatehpur in the Kangra district were also the subject of an aerial survey by Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu.
He assessed the status of the ongoing rescue operations and other relief efforts in the flooded area downstream of Pong Reservoir. The CM spoke with residents at the relief camps at Damtal and Shekhpura, asking about their health and assuring them of all the aid the government could provide.
The state government said on Wednesday that the recent rain-related occurrences have resulted in the deaths of at least 71 persons.
“More damages have occurred during August 13,14 and 15 than in July. The death toll is 71 and there has been a loss of Rs 7,500 crore, this estimate could increase because now people are involved in rescue and relief works and a detailed estimate will take time,” an official said.
