Shimla, Aug 14: Natural calamity in Mandi has spelled doom for a number of families of different states, whose near and dear ones were travelling on the Mandi-Pathankot NH-20 in HRTC buses on early Sunday night when a massive landslide left both buses trapped under the debris. The deceased were identified as native of Kullu, Mandi and Kangra districts, besides those of Punjab and J&K. One CRPF personal Suresh Kumar, on vacation and visiting his home in Mandi, was among those killed in the tragedy.
According to locals, the landslide of such a scale was reported in this area after 20 years gap. The area had seen such disasters in 1977 and 1997. The tragedy has brought destruction to Kotrupi village, while downstream villages of Badvaan and Pandrahi had a narrow escape.
Meena Devi, a native of Pandrahi village, said a huge thudding sound was heard when this incident occurred. This alerted them and they left their houses to take shelter at a distant place. The villagers of Badvaan had a narrow escape as hill rock from the upper side diverted the direction of the landside preventing damage to the village. Joginder Singh, an eyewitness, said “one youth was trapped under debris when he, unaware of the lurking danger, was capturing the whole scene. One girl remained trapped in the Manali-Katra bus and was pulled out after three hours struggle”.
Source Tribune India
