Landslides in Assam kill 10; NDRF operations underway

Ten people were killed in landslides in Karimganj and Hailakandi districts in Barak Valley in Assam on Wednesday following incessant rains. Five members of a family were killed in a landslide at Sonachirra in Karimganj district in the wee hours, a police official said.

The landslip, triggered by incessant rains, buried a house on the edge of a hill killing the five people. Among the victims are a man, his wife and their daughter and two sons. The area has been hit by continuous rains for the past three days.

In neighbouring Hailakandi district, two incidents of landslide killed four persons at Bilaipur and a six-year old boy at Ramchandi area, police officials said. The debris fell on two houses where the victims were sleeping early in the morning, they said.

NDRF and police have been engaged in rescue and relief operations.

Those dead in the landslide in Karimganj were identified as Nitai Das (38), Supriya Das (32), Nibas Das (10), Mitali Das (13) and Kunal Das (6), superintendent of police Pradip Kumar Kar said.

Due to heavy rains at Karimganj, the electronic voting machines (EVMs) of Ratabari and Karimganj North Assembly constituencies have been shifted by the district administration to a safe place, deputy commissioner Manoj Deka said.

The shift of the EVMs was conducted in the presence of all political party leaders, observers, district and deputy commissioner and superintendent of police, Deka said.