9 dead as boulders slide down hill in Himachal

Nine tourists were killed after heavy boulders fell on their tempo traveller in a landslide near Basteri in Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh on Sunday, police said.

Multiple landslides triggered by recent rains occurred near Basteri on Sangla-Chitkul road at 1.25 pm, resulting in a bridge collapse and damage to some vehicles, they said.

A video of a bridge collapse in Basteri has gone viral on social media. In the video, boulders could be seen rolling downhill, causing the bridge to collapse.

According to the police, nine people died and two others injured after heavy boulders fell on a tempo traveller. The passengers were going to Sangla from Chitkul.

In a similar incident, a pedestrian was injured in another landslide in Kinnaur district, they added.

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President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed condolences over the death of people due to the landslides in Kinnaur.

"Deeply saddened by the news of the death of many people in a landslide in Kinnaur, Himachal Pradesh. Express my deepest condolences to the bereaved families and wish the injured people a speedy recovery," Kovind tweeted in Hindi.

Modi said all arrangements are being made for the treatment of those injured and announced an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh each for the next of kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 to the injured from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund.

Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur also expressed grief over the deaths and asked the district administration to ensure immediate relief and rescue operations.

The police said all the deceased were tourists from different parts of the country.

The deceased have been identified as Maya Devi Biyani (55), her son Anurag Biyani (31) and daughter Maya Devi Biyani (25) of Rajasthan, Pratiksha Sunil Patil (27) of Maharashtra, Deepika Sharma (34) of Jaipur, Amogh Bapat (27), Satish Katakbar (34) of Chhattisgarh, driver Umrab Singh (42) of West Bengal and Kumar Ulhas Vedpathak (37).