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Bilaspur landslide: A horrific accident took place in Bilaspur at around 6.40 pm on Tuesday evening when a large part of a mountain collapsed and fell on a moving bus in Bhalughat area near Barthin. Relief and rescue operations continued on Wednesday also.
Bilaspur landslide: The death toll increased to 16 after the body of a child was found on Wednesday morning in a private bus buried under the debris of the massive landslide that occurred in Himachal Pradesh’s Bilaspur district on Tuesday evening. A horrific accident took place when a large part of a mountain collapsed and fell on a moving bus in Bhalughat area near Barthin on Tuesday evening at around 6.40 pm. Relief and rescue operations continued on Wednesday also. Bilaspur SP Sandeep Dhawal told PTI that with the recovery of one more body on Wednesday, the death toll has increased to 16. The rescue operation, which was halted late Tuesday night due to poor visibility and mudslides, resumed on Wednesday morning. Two NDRF teams, local people, police, home guards and fire brigade personnel are engaged in the search operation. National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) officials told PTI video that dog squads have been deployed to search for victims as well as machinery to remove heavy rocks.
Deputy Chief Minister met the victims
He said that the deceased have been identified as Naksh, Aarav, Sanjeev, Vimala, Kamlesh, Kanta Devi, Anjana, Bakshi Ram, Narendra Sharma, Krishna Lal, Chunni Lal, Rajneesh, Sonu, Sharif Khan and Praveen Kumar. He said that the body of the child found on Wednesday morning has not been identified yet. The dead include four members of the same family. The wives of two brothers and two children of one brother – who were returning home after attending a function. An official said that the other brother’s children Aarushi and Shaurya were among those rescued. Aarushi and Shaurya’s father Raj Kumar said, ‘My wife and two children, and my brother’s wife and her two children, were returning home from a function when the tragedy occurred. Now only my children are alive. Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri, who took stock of the rescue operations at the accident site on Tuesday night and also met the families of the victims, said it had been raining in the area for the last two days. It is clear that the accident occurred due to landslide after heavy rains.
CM’s instructions to speed up the rescue operation
A magisterial inquiry into the incident has been ordered. He said that Himachal is a hilly state where there are new mountains, where big roads, bridges and tunnels are being constructed. Therefore, there is a need to review whether the current development model is sustainable. He said that the state has suffered a loss of Rs 20,000 crore due to various natural disasters since 2023. It has been raining intermittently in this area since Monday. President Draupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Ministers Amit Shah and JP Nadda, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra have expressed condolences on the accident. Modi announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund to the families of each deceased, while the injured would get Rs 50,000. Expressing grief over the incident, Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu directed the officials to speed up the rescue operation.
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