A massive landslide triggered by incessant rainfall struck Shivaji Nagar near Tezu in Arunachal Pradesh’s Lohit district on Wednesday, resulting in the deaths of two construction workers. The deceased have been identified as Rahul Kumar, 26, and Bipin Kumar, 33, both residents of Bihar who had been working as construction labourers in the area.
According to officials, six labourers were initially trapped under the debris when the mudslide occurred. One of them managed to escape on his own, while the remaining five were rescued in a coordinated operation by the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), the Indian Army, police and other responding agencies.
Five persons were rescued through a coordinated rescue operation carried out by SDRF, Army, Police and other responding agencies. Two bodies were later recovered from the site. Officials said two of the rescued labourers succumbed to their injuries despite being rushed to Tezu Zonal General Hospital in an Army ambulance for emergency treatment.
They were declared dead by the attending doctors at the hospital. Their mortal remains have been kept at the mortuary of Tezu Zonal General Hospital. Two Unnatural Death (UD) cases have been registered by the police. The rescue operation was carried out under challenging weather conditions and concluded successfully with the joint efforts of the SDRF, Army, police and other emergency responders.
The incident occurred amidst heavy rainfall warnings issued by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), which had forecast heavy to very heavy rainfall accompanied by thunderstorms over parts of Arunachal Pradesh and issued an Orange Alert for vulnerable districts, warning of the possibility of flash floods, landslides and waterlogging. Heavy rain also triggered fresh flash floods in parts of Lohit district on Wednesday, inundating several areas and damaging homes and infrastructure.
