8 killed in Asom

New Delhi, June 13 (UNI) Eight people were killed in landslides and lightning in Asom and Tripura in the past 24 hours.

Rail and road communications remained disrupted in the north eastern states following heavy rains and floods in the past few days even as dust and thick clouds accompanied with dust brought down the temperatures in the capital.

In Asom, three persons of a family were killed at Damchora village in Cachar district on Monday night as their house was washed away by landslides. All the victims were females, the report said.

At least five people, including three children, were killed in lightning and a series of landslides triggered by monsoon rains in Tripura, official sources said today.

Thousands of people were forced to leave their homes to seek shelter in safer places as flash floods innundated their villages under Gaurichak police station of Patna district.

A thick cloud cover enveloped the skyline of the capital since morning, bringing the mercury down by four degrees Celsius, from 41.3 degrees yesterday to 37.3 degrees today, nearly three degrees below normal, the weather office said.

Rail services on the Silchar-Lumding Hill Section of N F Railway remained cut off following landslides in twenty places in the 22 km stretch of Bori Hill ranges in Asom. All trains in this section have been cancelled indefinitely, while restoration works were on in full swing. Railway sources said restoration would be possible after one week.

Heavy rains are likely to occur at most places in Arunachal Pradesh, Asom, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim, the IMD said.

A report from Silchar said road communication from here to Guwahati via Shillong has been disrupted after the Balley Bridge of the Border Road Task Force (BRTF) was washed away at Malidahar.

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