Manipur landslide: Two more bodies retrieved; death toll mounts to 49

Credits: PTI

Imphal: The death toll in the landslide that struck a railway construction site at Tupul in Manipur's Noney district last week rose to 49 as two more bodies were retrieved from under the debris during the ongoing search operations, an official said on Friday.

Bodies of a Territorial Army staffer and a civilian were recovered on Thursday and 12 people are still missing, he said.

“Identification of decomposed bodies has become increasingly difficult. Search operations are still on to find out the 12 missing people,” Noney district Deputy Commissioner Haulianlal Guite said in a statement.

Twenty-nine Army personnel and 20 civilians were among the deceased in the worst natural disaster that hit the northeastern state and eighteen others were injured.

The massive landslide struck the railway construction site on June 30.

Over 880 personnel, including those of the National Disaster Response Force, the State Disaster Response Force, the police, the Assam Rifles and local volunteers, have been deployed in the search operation.

Over 43 excavators have been used to clear the debris which blocked the Ijei river, forming dam-like storage and threatening the people living nearby.

Earth-movers have been brought in to remove the debris and create a channel to allow the flow of water from there, the official said.