Himachal Pradesh: A mountain fell on a packed temple in Shimla, 25-30 people buried, 9 dead so far
There has been an outcry in Himachal Pradesh due to the torrential rains that have been going on for the last two days. There are reports of devastation due to heavy rains. 7 people died and 3 are missing due to landslide in Solan. At the same time, a major accident took place in the capital Shimla also due to landslides. The mountain broke and fell on the Shiva temple in Summerhill. More than two dozen people were buried under the debris. So far 9 bodies have been recovered.
Heavy rains are wreaking havoc in Himachal Pradesh and the calamities are not taking the name of stopping. A major landslide occurred in Summerhill, a suburb of the capital Shimla, on Monday morning. In this incident the ancient Shiv Bari temple was destroyed. About two dozen people are feared to be buried in the accident. These include seven people from a family. Relief and rescue teams have retrieved 9 bodies from the debris. Two of them are innocent children. 5 injured have also been taken out. Shimla DC Aditya Negi and SP Sanjeev Gandhi are present at the spot and are supervising the rescue operation.
The temple is located at the foot of a hill and frequent landslides from the hill are hampering the relief operations. The landslide incident took place at 7.15 am. Due to Monday, people had come to pay obeisance at the Shiv Bari temple, during which a landslide occurred in the temple. Everyone was shocked to see the scene of devastation at the spot. Shimla SP Sanjeev Gandhi said that three bodies have been recovered from the spot. Relief work is going on. Many people are buried in the debris. Efforts are on to extract them.
Expressing grief over the incident, Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu said that due to the rains there was heavy destruction. He said in a conversation with a TV channel, ‘The kind of rain that has happened in four districts for the last 48 hours has wreaked havoc. The water level in Beas river is very high. Many deaths have been reported due to landslides. The accident happened in the temple of Shimla in the morning. People had gathered in the morning to make prasad. So far bodies of 9 people have been found. I myself have reached there to take stock of the situation. The rain continues unabated. Life is busy. The rain may stop in the next 12 hours. After this, we will be able to speed up the relief and rescue work. He said that it is raining all over the state. Trees have fallen at many places. All the staff officers have been asked to engage in relief and rescue work.
