CHANDIGARH: Heavy overnight rains pounded Himachal Pradesh, triggering floods and landslides that left three members of a family dead and submerged a bus stand in Mandi.
The incident took place in Bragta village in Boi panchayat in Nehri area of Sundernagar subdivision in Mandi district, where a massive landslide buried a house with five family members inside.
Villagers immediately launched a rescue effort and managed to pull out two people, who were critically injured and taken to the nearest hospital.
Deputy Commissioner, Mandi, Apoorv Devgan said that three bodies have been recovered while two persons have been rescued.
Superintendent of Police, Mandi, Sakshi Verma, said the incident occurred in the Nihri area when debris from a cliff slid onto a house.
The heavy downpour has also caused widespread damage to both public and private property.
In another incident, one person was swept away when a flash flood struck Dharampur market late last night.
Officials said the rains led to floods in Son and Bharand drains in Dharampur, resulting in flooding of the bus stand, damaging a workshop, pump houses, shops and over 20 buses.
A search operation is underway to trace the missing person.
Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri in his Facebook post said, "Dharampur bus stand, over two dozen HRTC buses, shops, pump house and workshop has been damaged."
The flash flood caused heavy losses to local shopkeepers and residents as water rushed into markets and houses, damaging goods and infrastructure. Many people were forced to climb onto rooftops for safety, while several houses and shops near the riverbank were inundated.
A hostel housing 150 students was also flooded, though all the students are reported to be safe.
“Shops have suffered massive losses due to flooding. The full extent of the damage is still being assessed,” an official said.
District administration teams, supported by local volunteers and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), are carrying out rescue and relief operations.
In Shimla, several vehicles were buried following a landslide near Himland in the heart of the city and the main circular road was blocked causing inconvenience to school- going children.
"It was raining heavily and around 1 am, we heard a deafening sound with trees and debris sliding down and immediately moved our vehicles to escape", Gautam and Rahul Shukla, who were sleeping in their vehicle parked near Himland when the landslide occurred, said.