Itanagar, May 16: Atleast three members of a family died in a devastating landslide behind the Punjabi Dhaba at Itanagar's D-sector on Sunday night, police said on Monday.
A massive landslide triggered by heavy showers hit the kutcha house they were living in and three of the nine members of the family were buried alive and two others sustained serious injuries, while four others including children escaped unhurt, Itanagar Police Station officer-in-charge Phassang Simi said.
The rescue teams comprising fire and emergency services personnel, city police and SDRF personnel with the help of men and machineries, assisted by the locals, recovered two bodies, including that of a minor boy, identified as Tapas Rai (15) and one Nagen Barman, 50. However, the frantic search for the third person – a lady named Kusum Rai, 35, is still on, the OC said, adding that the injured were taken to hospital.
The officer, meanwhile, said that two houses were swept away by rain-triggered landslides at Modirijo village near Shiv Mandir area in between Itanagar and Naharlagun along NH-415 on Monday morning. However, there were no reports of any casualty.
With incessant, heavy rains continuing to lash the Arunachal Pradesh capital along with other parts of the state for nearly a week now, normal life has been thrown out of gear.
Meanwhile, the Itanagar Capital Complex district administration appealed to the people residing in vulnerable landslide-prone areas to vacate such areas and move to safer locations or to the designated relief camps in view of incessant rains since the last few days.
The district administration has so far designated three temporary relief camps at the auditorium of Govt Higher Secondary School, ESS Sector (Itanagar), Govt Middle School, Kankar Nallah (Naharlagun) and Nikum Niya Hall at Banderdewa.
Further, the administration said in case of any eventuality, the District Emergency Operating Centre (DEOC) could be contacted at the toll free numbers 1077, 878-7336331, 9436415828 for any assistance.
