Twenty-five people were killed by a landslide in northeast India on Thursday and nearly 40 are still missing, according to a new report from the local government and the army, released on Saturday.
Two days following the disaster, rescuers and security forces continued to search for possible survivors at the site of the disaster, a railway construction camp buried under mud and rocks, in the state of Manipur.
But their efforts were hampered by poor weather conditions, including rains. The situation “remains serious”, estimated the head of government of the state of Manipur, N. Biren Singh, who communicated the new death toll of 25 dead.
Most of the dead victims, whose bodies were taken from the rubble, were military reservists who worked on the railway site.
Eighteen people were also found alive by the emergency services, according to a press release from the army. But 12 reservists and 26 civilians are still missing.
heavy rain
Remote northeast India has been hit in recent weeks with heavy rainfall that has caused landslides and flooding.
Earlier this year, at least ten people died in such natural disasters following unusually heavy rains in several parts of India.
According to experts, climate change is increasing the number of extreme weather events around the world, including in India. Moreover, in this country, dams, deforestation and development projects also contribute to disasters whose human toll is worsening.
/ATS
