AIZAWL, June 5 - At least 21 people were killed in two separate disasters in Mizoram on Monday night. A mudslide triggered by heavy rains swept away a two-storeyed semi-pucca building, killing ten persons, including two children, at Lunglawn in Lunglei town of south Mizoram around 6 pm yesterday.
In another incident, eleven people, including five women, were confirmed dead in a bus accident that took place around Monday midnight. The bus plying between Aizawl and Siaha ran off the road and rolled 500 metres down a hill.
Sources said 30 passengers were travelling in the 27-seater vehicle. While nine passengers died on the spot, two others succumbed to their injuries at the Serchhip District Hospital. The bus handyman was driving the bus when the accident took place, the sources said. The exact cause of the accident is yet to be ascertained.
Vanlalpeka (30), owner of the building that was swept away in the mudslide, lost his wife, Lalchawiliani (29), father HC Aipianga (83), son Peter Lalkroschhuanga (7) and seven other relatives. Vanlalpeka�s family lived on the first floor of the building. His in-laws consisting of seven members, who lived on the ground floor, died in the disaster. However, Vanlalpeka and three other family members had a miraculous escape.
A disaster management team, assisted by the local people, recovered all the bodies from the debris this morning. Rescue work was hampered due to continuous rainfall throughout the night.
Recalling the incident, Vanlalpeka said: �As I was dressing up for the Monday night church service, I heard a strange sound. A few seconds later, the entire building was moving.� He managed to save his two other kids, aged ten and nine, and put them in a safe place before the building was swept away.
