Tag: Manipur landslide

  • Manipur landslide: Survivor, who was buried under wet earth and exhumed alive, recounts horror

    Express News Service

    GUWAHATI: It must have been 1.30 am on June 30 when the heavens fell and unleashed hell on Ramen Phukan.

    He was sleeping at one moment and then, found himself buried under tonnes of wet earth and rocks. He is one of the 18 survivors of the devastating landslide in Manipur’s Noney district.

    The survivors include five from Assam. They were brought to Guwahati in a flight on Monday. Ramen, a mason, recounted the horror.

    “I almost got buried. I got trapped between two rocks – one above and another behind. I could somehow stick my right hand out of the debris. I thought I would die and started praying to God. And then by using full force, I somehow managed to partially lift my body. It was dark and raining,” Ramen recalled.

    He said on hearing him yelling for life, his friend Gopal Phukan arrived, carrying a stump-like object. Ramen held onto it as he was being lifted. Eventually, he came out of the debris and went to a safer place near a plantain tree.

    “I could hear some voices coming from the side of the river (Ijai). I couldn’t see the persons but they were possibly stuck in the river. I shouted at them saying if you want to stay alive, come to me. My brother Maniram and nephew Maheshwar soon arrived,” Ramen said.

    As moments passed by, he said the voices at the river fell silent. The debris had blocked the river and the level of water was fast rising, he said.

    “Gopal Phukan saved my life but unfortunately, he is among the dead,” Ramen, who fractured his left hand, said sobbing.

    He said he was stuck there for the next three to four hours until being rescued by the villagers at dawn.

    “They put me into a sack and carried me uphill. I will remain thankful to them for the rest of my life,” Ramen said.

    Prahlad Basumatary, another survivor, said the landslide had flung him a long distance down.

    “Twenty-three of us, including a supervisor, were in the room. We went to bed after eating dinner and watching movies etc,” Prahlad said.

    He said he sustained injuries in one leg and was rescued by the villagers. Assam minister Pijush Hazarika had brought the survivors to Guwahati.

    “Twenty-six people from Assam were there. Five survived, the bodies of nine were recovered and 12 are missing. The missing persons include a railway engineer,” Hazarika told journalists.

    He said the five survivors were Ramen Phukan, Maniram Phukan, Maheshwar Phukan, Jon Basumatary and Prahlad Basumatary. Of the 26 people from Assam, 21 are from Morigaon district.

    Dipankar Bordoloi, who is the chief of Khustoli Khuragusaibari village in Morigaon, said 18 of the people are from his village while three are from an adjoining village.

    “Most people in our areas are farmers. After sowing paddy, a lot of them go to different places to eke out a living,” Bordoloi said.

    Till Monday, the bodies of 45 victims, including Territorial Army personnel, were retrieved. The personnel were deployed there for the protection of under-construction railway line from Jiribam to Imphal.

    The Manipur government announced ex gratia of Rs 5 lakh each for the dead and Rs 50,000 each for the injured.

  • Manipur landslide: 12 more bodies recovered, 44 others feared trapped

    Express News Service

    GUWAHATI: The bodies of 12 more persons were retrieved from the landslide-hit railway construction site at Tupul in Manipur’s Noney district on Friday.

    “Mortal remains of 8 more Territorial Army personnel and 4 civilians were recovered during the search on July 1,” the Army said in a statement.

    The bodies of eight persons, including seven personnel, were recovered and 18 others, including 13 personnel, were rescued and hospitalised on Thursday. Some of them were grievously injured.

    Official sources said an estimated 82 people were at the site when the tragedy struck them in the wee hours of Thursday. The Army said the search for the remaining 44 people – 15 personnel and 29 civilians – would continue.

    The civilians missing are railway employees, construction labourers and villagers. The Territorial Army personnel were deployed for the protection of under-construction Jiribam to Imphal railway line.

    Chief Minister N Biren Singh, who visited the site for the second straight day, monitored the search and rescue operation being undertaken by multiple agencies such as Army, Assam Rifles, Territorial Army, National Disaster Response Force and State Disaster Response Force. Several excavators and sniffer dogs were being used in the operation.

    The CM said the tonnes of slippery mud that piled up at the site made the rescue operation difficult. He said the operation would be continued for the next two to three days.

    “Heavy machineries along with ‘Through Wall Imaging Radar’ have been deployed to expedite the operation,” Singh said.

    Through Wall Imaging Radar or TWIR is a sensor used for detection and location of static and moving targets, especially human beings behind walls.

    The debris had blocked the flow of Ijai river. Official sources said the blockage had been partially cleared and the river was flowing.

    Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma asked his ministerial colleague Pijush Hazarika to visit Manipur. According to Sarma, one person from Assam lost his life, five were undergoing treatment and 16 were missing.

  • Manipur landslide: NDRF says 17 bodies recovered, rescue ops on

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Seventeen bodies have been retrieved from the landslide site in Manipur’s Noney district, the NDRF said on Friday, as they continue the efforts are on to rescue those who are still stuck beneath the debris.

    The spokesperson said a total of three National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams and those from the Army, state police and local administration are working at the Tupul yard railway construction camp of the Territorial Army which was hit by a massive landslide on Wednesday night.

    “In the joint operation, 17 dead bodies have been retrieved from the site till now. Before the arrival of NDRF teams, 18 injured persons were rescued and shifted to hospital on June 30.”

    “More people are suspected to be still stuck beneath the debris. Search operation is continuing,” the spokesperson said in an update issued at 3:30 pm.

    Earlier, Eastern Command General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Lt Gen R P Kalita met the injured Territorial Army personnel who were initially admitted to Liemakong Military Hospital on Thursday.