Rescue operations continue for the fourth consecutive day following a massive landslide at Tupul Railway construction camp in Manipur’s Noni district on Sunday, July 3, 2022.
Highlight
- Landslide death toll in Manipur rises to 37 after three more bodies found
- 24 people have been identified as Territorial Army personnel while 13 are civilians.
- Army, Assam Rifles, Territorial Army, SDRF and NDRF are part of the search operation
The death toll in a massive landslide at a railway construction site in Manipur’s Noni district rose to 37 on Sunday. Three more bodies have been recovered while a search is on for another 25 people, an official said.
The search and rescue operation was called off after heavy rains and fresh landslides in the Tupul area on Saturday night, officials said. A defense spokesperson told reporters in Guwahati that of the 37 people found so far, 24 are Territorial Army personnel, while 13 of them are civilians.
“Relentless efforts will continue to trace the remaining six missing Territorial Army personnel and 19 civilians till the last person is found,” he said.
Army, Assam Rifles, Territorial Army, SDRF and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) are part of the search operation. “The search operation is going on despite adverse weather conditions due to heavy rains and fresh landslides last night,” the spokesman said.
So far 13 Territorial Army personnel and five civilians have been safely rescued.
Wall Imaging Radar (TWIR) technology is being used to locate the missing persons under the rubble. A search and rescue dog has also been brought in to aid the efforts, the official said.
The bodies of seven Territorial Army personnel were on Sunday sent to their hometowns Kolkata and Bagdogra in West Bengal and Agartala in Tripura, the spokesman said. He said that he was given full military honors in Imphal.
When did this incident happen?
A landslide occurred on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday near the company site of the Indian Army’s 107 Territorial Army deployed near Tupul railway station to protect the under-construction railway line from Jiribam to Imphal.
North-East Frontier Railway CPRO said that the landslide caused by incessant rains has damaged the Tupul station building of Jiribam-Imphal new line project.
Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Thursday reviewed the landslide situation in Manipur due to incessant rains and assured full possible support from the central government.
“Spoke to Manipur CM N Biren Singh and reviewed the situation due to a tragic landslide. Assured all possible assistance from the Centre. I pray for the safety of all the affected. My condolences to the bereaved families. May the injured be cured at the earliest,” PM Modi said in a Twitter post.
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