SILCHAR, June 2 - Twenty one people were killed in separate incidents of landslide triggered by heavy rain in the Barak valley on Tuesday. The deceased include seven from Cachar district, eight from Hailakandi and six from Karimganj. Among the dead eight are minors, sources said.
Cachar deputy commissioner Keerthi Jalli told The Assam Tribune that rescue operations are going on, while arrangements are being made to provide ex gratia to the kin of the deceased.
Shamim Ahmed Laskar, project officer of district disaster management authority, said the Cachar incident took place in the Joypur area. �All the deceased are from one family. We have sent an SDRF team to the spot and the Assam Rifles personnel have also joined in the rescue operations,� Laskar said.
Karimganj deputy commissioner Anbamuthan MP informed that six persons, including four children, from two different families in the Karimpur area under Kaliganj police outpost lost their lives due to landslide.
�While all five members, including three minors, of one family got trapped inside their kutccha house due to the landslide, another death of a 14-year-old girl occurred around 2 km away in another landslide,� the official said.
In the second landslide incident, one member of the family sustained leg injury and had been moved to hospital for urgent medical attention. Requisite steps are being taken to provide succour to the affected families, the deputy commissioner said.
Hailakandi Correspondent adds: Eight people were killed and five others injured in separate incidents of landslide in Hailakandi district on Tuesday morning. Of the eight dead, five belonged to the same family.
Landslides occurred in the three different places of Algapur and Mohanpur village of the district around 8 am. Local people rescued the injured before the SDRF team could reach the spots.
Meanwhile, the State government has announced payment of Rs 4 lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased.
Staff Reporter adds from Guwahati: Assam Governor Jagdish Mukhi and Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal today expressed grief over the loss of lives in the incidents of landslide in the three districts of Barak valley.
Sonowal directed the deputy commissioners of the districts to speed up rescue operations and extend help to the affected. He also directed the district administration officials to immediately release ex gratia to the next of kin of those who lost their lives.
