Guwahati, June 19: At least five persons, including three minors, were buried alive by a rain-triggered landslide at Gainachora (Bendargool) village, under Badarpur police station in south Assam’s Karimganj district around Tuesday midnight, official sources informed on Wednesday.
Among the deceased include a woman, her three daughters, and a three-year-old boy belonging to another family, who were reportedly asleep when tragedy struck.
“Last night, at 12.45am, we were informed about a landslide at Gainachora (Bendargool) under Badarpur police station. On receipt of the information, SDRF staff and AAPDA Mitras were rushed to spot and carried out a rescue operation. After three hours of the rescue operation, five bodies were recovered,” a statement issued by the DC, Karimganj, said.
The victims have been identified as Roymun Nessa (55); her daughters – Sahida Khanam (18); Jahida Khanam (16) and Hamida Khanam (11), all residents of Gainachora (Bendargool). The three-year-old child has been identified as Mehdi Hassan, son of Mahimuddin, a resident of Tikorpara village.
The devastating landslide is believed to have been caused incessant heavy rain in the district over the past few days, reportedly triggering a wall collapse and damaging their house.
Notably, heavy rain over the past few days have worsened the flood situation in Assam, with Karimganj district the worst affected in terms of population till Wednesday evening.
The flood bulletin of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) reported that a population close to three lakh have been affected by the deluge, with 2,45,379 people bearing the brunt of the deluge in Karimganj district alone.
Till Wednesday evening, 19 districts of the state – Kamrup, South Salmara, Goalpara, Nagaon, Bongaigaon, Lakhimpur, Hojai, Darrang, Nalbari, Karimganj, Udalguri, Tamulpur, Hailakandi, Biswanath, Barpeta, Cachar, Baksa, Bajali and Sonitpur – remain affected by floods.
There seems to be little respite in the next three days with the India Meteorological Department predicting isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall over Assam and the rest of the Northeastern states till Saturday.