A devastating landslide in India’s picturesque yet vulnerable Himachal Pradesh state has claimed the lives of 15 people, leaving behind heartbreak and a community reeling with grief.
The incident occurred yesterday evening, when a private bus carrying 18 people was engulfed by a sudden landslide triggered by two days of relentless rainfall in the region. The victims include 9 men, 4 women, and 2 young children. Two more children were pulled out alive but injured, while one child remains missing, as rescue operations continue.
Karam Singh, Assistant Commandant of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), confirmed the grim details to ANI. In an emotional update, Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri expressed his condolences, stating on X (formerly Twitter), “In this horrific mishap, 15 people lost their lives… and the search for one continues.”
Heart-wrenching visuals captured by ANI showed the crumpled remains of the bus scattered along the mountainside, while emergency teams used heavy machinery and bare hands to comb through debris and mud-soaked belongings, holding on to hope of finding the missing child.
According to senior police officer Sandeep Dhawal, the landslide was primarily caused by continuous rainfall over the last 48 hours, a pattern of extreme weather becoming increasingly common in India’s Himalayan regions.
This tragedy adds to a growing list of rain-related disasters across South Asia. Earlier this week, at least 23 people were killed in Darjeeling, West Bengal, and 50 more perished in neighbouring Nepal due to similar conditions.
