In what can be termed as a sad day for Mizoram twenty people were killed in two separate incidents when landslide struck in Lunglei city and a bus accident near Pangzawl village in the same district on Monday night.
Ten people were killed and another four were injured when a building was swept away by a landslide triggered by heavy rains in Lunglawn area of south Mizoram‘s Lunglei city, police said on Tuesday.
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Among the ten fatalities four were minors inside the two storeyed semi-concrete house when the landslide struck at around 6PM on Monday night. Lunglei district disaster response team and local branches of the Young Mizo Association worked the entire night trying to extricate the dead bodies trapped under the rubble.
The last corpse could only be extricated on Tuesday noon.
In another incident ten people were killed including two minors and twenty-two others injured after a bus travelling from Aizawl to Siaha in Mizoram on late Monday night when the driver lost control while negotiating a narrow and wet road near Pangzawl village in Lunglei district.
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The private night bus belonging to Colney Travels was on its way to the southern Mizoram city of Siaha when it met with an accident, the bus was carrying 32 passengers when the it rolled down the hill near Pangzawl village which is about 135 kilometres from Aizawl.
Police sources from Hnahthial, which is the nearest town, manned by police personnel said that nine people died on the spot and another succumbed to injuries at Serchhip district hospital where three critically injured were taken about 40 kilometres.
“While nine people died on the spot, one was declared dead at Serchhip district hospital. The driver of the bus also lost his life in the accident,” police sources said.
About twenty passengers, who sustained minor injuries were given first aid at Pangzawl village health centre and later taken to Hnahthial hospital for further treatment.
The death toll could rise further as the condition of two of the injured are serious, an official from Serchhip said.
Mizoram home minister R Lalzirliana expressed solidarity to the bereaved family members of the victims and said that he was personally heartbroken and promised the state government would do everything in its power for the recovery of the injured.
The exact cause of the accident is not known yet, the authorities hinted that the second driver who was driving the bus while the accident happened, while negotiating a curve under a terrible weather condition and low visibility lost control of the vehicle.