(Pics) Manipur floods: 10 rescued from landslide debris, 4 bodies found

By PTI

Updated: Monday, August 3, 2015, 19:03 [IST]

Imphal, Aug 3: Ten persons have been rescued alive from debris till on Monday, two days after a massive landslide in Manipur's Chandel district.

Special Secretary in Relief and Disaster Management department Jason Shimray told PTI that rescue efforts with NDRF help was on.

Apart from the ten persons, four bodies have been extricated from the debris at Zoumol by an NDRF team so far while five persons are still missing, he said. [20 dead, houses swept away in Manipur landslides]

He said the ten have been taken to safe places following their rescue while the death figure at remote Zoumol village on Indo-Myanmar border due to the landslide "is likely to be revised".

Chandel superintendent of police N Herojit Singh had said on Saturday night that 20 people had been killed in the landslide triggered by incessant rains and NDRF personnel had joined in the rescue effort.

Singh, when contacted over telephone today, told PTI that the landslide toll of 20 given by him on August 1 was based on report of the Zoumol village authority to the police.

"I am awaiting the official report from the field," the SP added. The village is located on Khenjoi hills about 96 kms from Tengnoupa, the nearest town, of which 83 km is motorable.

The massive landslide covered about one-km stretch.

About the rescue efforts, the special secretary said a 20-member NDRF team is working at the site day and night along with two doctors and an executive magistrate.

Another NDRF team comprising 45 personnel is coming by road from Guwahati via Kohima today to join the rescue work.

The team is moving on foot in the absence of proper road communication. Incessant rains and location of the village on the stiff portion of a tall hill is impeding their movement, he said.

The location of the village is impeding excavation work too as it would not be possible to dig the debris manually or send heavy machinery like earthmovers to the spot, Shimray, who sent a report to the Union Home Ministry during the day, added.

Here are some pics that depict how the people of Manipur are copying up with heavy rains and floods: