GUWAHATI: Three women were killed while scores others, including students and children, were injured in a devastating thunderstorm in Manipur on Monday.
Two women were killed when a house collapsed at New Saiton in the hill district of Churachandpur. The third woman, hailing from Wari in Kakching district, was killed when a tree, which collapsed, fell on her. She ran a tea shop in the area.
Chief Minister N Biren Singh, who visited some affected areas, said three people were confirmed dead – two in Churachandpur and one in Kakching districts.
“In one incident in Bishnupur district, 17 students and some of their teachers were injured when a madrassa was damaged. The reports that I have received so far are that 400-500 houses were damaged and some 80 people were injured across the state,” Singh told this newspaper.
Nine of the state’s 16 districts were affected. The worst-hit districts were Jiribam, Churachandpur, Bishnupur and Kakching, Bidyarani Ayekpam, Deputy Secretary in the Department of Relief and Disaster Management, said.
She said while three people were confirmed dead, reports that many others died were being verified.
“The death toll is likely to go up further as reports are being awaited from interior areas of the nine districts. We should get a clearer picture by tomorrow (Tuesday) morning,” Ayekpam said.
She said a number of schools and houses were blown away. According to her, the whole of Kakching district was affected.
“Efforts are being made by the administration to set up relief camps in the affected districts. In Kakching, 40 families have been displaced and they were being sheltered in relief camps,” she added.
Chief Secretary Suresh Babu said the information was being collected from across the state.