Manipur landslide death toll reaches 49

Our Correspondent
Imphal, July 6 (EMN): The death toll of the June 29 massive landslide at a railway construction site in Manipur’s Noney district rose to 49 after two more bodies was recovered from the debris on Wednesday, officials said.

The landslide, said to be the first of such magnitude in the state’s history, hit the railway construction camp at Marangching part 5 areas, about 75 km west of the state capital, on the midnight of June 29. It also hit 107 Territorial Army (TA) camp of the Indian army deployed at the area to protect those working at the construction site.

A senior state government official monitoring the situation said that they recovered two more bodies on Wednesday, adding that the operation will continue for the 12 persons who are still missing.

So far, there is no report of recovering the bodies of two families from Marangching village part 4 and part 5.

Till Tuesday evening, 47 bodies out of 79 confirmed victims were recovered while 18 injured persons were rescued and referred to various hospitals for treatment. Out of the total bodies recovered so far, 30 are from Territorial Army personnel while 12 others are still missing.

Among the 18 injured persons, who were rescued from ground zero during the initial days of search operation, seven are presently undergoing treatment at the Assam Rifles multispecialty hospital at Mantripukhri on the outskirts of Imphal.

Meanwhile, Manipur Water Resource and Relief and Disaster Management Minister, Awangbow Newmai, who has been overseeing and supervising the situation from the ground zero, visited the affected site again on Wednesday and reviewed the operations with the officials stationed there.