Northeast India landslide, Death toll rises to 11

• The death toll from a landslide that buried a railway construction camp in India’s northeast has risen to 11.
• Rescue teams are still racing to save dozens more people who are believed trapped beneath debris.
• India’s remote northeast has been pummelled by heavy rainfall triggering landslides and floods.

Four more bodies were recovered on Friday from the site of a landslide that buried a railway construction camp in northeast India, bringing the death toll to 11, according to local media.

Security forces and disaster relief teams are still racing to save dozens more people who are believed to be trapped beneath debris at the scene of the incident in Manipur state.

A district official told local media that 25 people had been rescued so far.

Most victims were reserve soldiers from the Territorial Army who had been working on the railway project.

“The loss of lives, including our armed forces personnel is deeply saddening,” Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh wrote on Twitter, adding that more than 50 people were still missing.

In the landslide affected sites of Tupul, Ministers of the state Govt, local MLAs and officials are also camping to oversee the rescue operation.

The loss of lives, including our armed forces personnel is deeply saddening. We still have over 50 missing persons to be found. pic.twitter.com/e6bmgfW9Yg

— N.Biren Singh (@NBirenSingh) July 1, 2022

A rescue team was digging through mud and removing boulders in the search for more survivors, army spokesman Sumit Kumar Sharma said.

India’s remote northeast has been pummelled by heavy rainfall in recent weeks, triggering landslides and floods.

Dozens were killed in the region after flooding last month, with relentless rains triggering landslides and inundating homes.

Earlier this year, unusually heavy rains in several parts of India killed at least ten people, including a four-year-old child, in floods and landslides.

Climate change, according to experts, is increasing the number of extreme weather events worldwide, with damming, deforestation, and development projects in India exacerbating the human toll.

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