ITANAGAR, April 23 - Two more persons were killed and four others injured when a fresh landslide triggered by torrential rains swept away their house in Tawang district of Arunachal Pradesh today, raising the death toll to 18 in the district.
�Two members of a family, the husband and wife, were buried alive and four other members of the family sustained injuries when a landslide triggered by heavy rains washed away their house at Thongleng village, some 20 kms from the district headquarters,� informed Additional Deputy Commissioner (HQ) Lod Gambo.
The injured persons were rushed to District Hospital, Tawang where the condition of one of the victims was stated to be very critical.
While 30 houses were badly damaged, one house where the victims were staying was washed away, the ADC said. The district administration has pressed men and machinery for relief and rescue operations, he said.
On Friday, 16 persons including one supervisor and l5 abourers were killed in a massive landslide caused by incessant rains at Famla village in Tawang district. The victims were mainly labourers from Assam who had gone there in search of livelihood.
Chief Minister Kalikho Pul yesterday announced ex-gratia payment of Rs 4 lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased, Rs 2 lakh to critically injured and Rs 50,000 to the persons with simple injury as per the relief norms of the government, while Governor JP Rajkhowa announced ex-gratia relief of Rs 1 lakh for nearest kin of each of 16 workers who died in the landslide. The Governor and CM also expressed shock and grief over the loss of lives in the Famla village landslide and prayed for eternal peace of the departed souls.
Incessant rains in the past couple of days triggered massive landslides and flood-like situation in almost all the districts of the Himalayan State bordering China. While major damage and casualties have been reported in Tawang, other districts like Anjaw, Changlang, Lower Subansiri and East Siang districts were reported to be badly affected by pre-monsoon rains.
