16 killed in Arunachal landslide

Guwahati: As many as 16 construction workers engaged in a construction site were killed while two  others had a close shave in a landslide that occurred at frontier monastery town of Tawang in Arunachal  Pradesh in the wee hours of Friday.
Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) of Tawang district, L Gambo informed that construction workers  were sleeping when the landslide triggered by incessant rain swept away their camp at around 3.30 A.M. on Friday.
“Two of the workers managed to escape deaths while 16 buried to death in the landslip. Rescue team comprising Army men, police personnel and members of local public could retrieve 16 bodies. The rescue operation has been called off. All the construction workers were from neighbouring Assam,” the official informed. The labour camp was located at over a height of 3,000 meters at Phalma village.
The workers were engaged by a private construction company which is building a star category hotel in the vicinity.
The official said it had been raining continuously in Tawang area and in many other parts of Arunachal  Pradesh for the last few days and claimed that incessant rain caused the killer landslide at Tawang.
Meanwhile, rain continues to create havoc in Namsai and Changlang districts of Arunachal Pradesh where rising water of Noa Dehing and the Jengthu Rivers have submerged fresh areas besides damaging several  flood protection embankments. The flood water of the rivers had inundated human habitation and agricultural fields.