Aizawl: The death toll in Mizoram landslides climbed to 29 after a female body was recovered from the Tlawng River in Assam border Kolasib district on Friday, officials said.
The body of Vanlalruali (34), one of the two landslide victims at Aibawk village in Aizawl district was found on Friday in Tlawng river at Hortoki village in Kolasib district, they said.
Vanlalruali had been missing along with her husband when a landslide swept away them on Tuesday.
Her body was taken to Kawnpui after taking out from the river at Hortoki, officials said.
On Friday, family members of Vanlalruali went to Kawnpui town to identify the body and confirmed that it was her, they said.
They said that the search operation for the last five missing people -4 from Melthum (including a six-month-old infant) and one from Aibawk continued on Saturday.
At least 15 people have died and four persons were missing when several houses and worker camps caved in due to the impact of a massive landslide at an abandoned stone quarry in the border area of Melthum and Hlimen on Tuesday morning, according to the state disaster management and rehabilitation department.
In Hlimen, six people died when a landslide swept away two houses and another three died at Aizawl’s Salem veng locality due to the landslide, it said.
Two persons died due to landslide at Falkawn village about 15 km from Aizawl and one each died in Kelsih and Lungsei villages in Aizawl district on Tuesday, it said.
Of the 29 victims, 21 were local residents while 8 hailed from Jharkhand and Assam’s Silchar town, the department said.
Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma announced Rs 4 lakh ex-gratia for the families of those killed in landslides and other calamities caused by rain.
He said that the government has earmarked Rs 15 crore to tackle disasters triggered by rain, which occurred as an aftereffect of cyclone Remal.
Aizawl district administration on Friday issued an order instructing all families in the vicinity of the landslide area at Hlimen to evacuate their houses and shift to safer places.