GUWAHATI/KOLKATA: A seven-year-old boy was killed while six members of his family were injured in a mortar explosion in West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri on Thursday evening.
The mortar – part of the Indian Army’s ammunition – was allegedly swept away by river Teesta from flash flood-hit Sikkim. The river flows down into Bengal before entering Bangladesh.
The victim has been identified as Sahinur Alam. The incident took place at Chanpadanga in Mal block of the North Bengal district.
Tabibur Rahman, one of the injured persons, had found a wooden box, covered with mud, in Teesta and took it home. The mortar exploded when he tried to open the box.
Following this incident, the Jalpaiguri district police issued a public advisory, stating, “In light of the severe flooding in Sikkim, certain military equipment including firearms and explosives were carried away by the Teesta River. We urge the public to be vigilant and report any unfamiliar objects, crates, packages, firearms, or any suspicious items seen floating in the water to the nearest police station immediately. Please refrain from handling these items in any manner, as they pose a potential risk of a dangerous explosion.”
Guwahati-based defence spokesman Lt Col Mahendra Rawat also said certain military equipment, including firearms and explosives, were carried away in Teesta due to severe floods in Sikkim.
Meanwhile, three days since the tragedy struck the Himalayan state there is no trace of at least 103 people, including 22 Army personnel.
After visiting some affected areas, Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang told journalists that 19 bodies were recovered while over 3,500 others were rescued.
However, quoting from a report released by Sikkim State Disaster Management Authority at 4 pm, the police said the number of people who lost their lives rose to 25.
Tamang said 3,000 tourists and more than 800 drivers continued to remain stranded but they were safe. He said the state and central governments and various security and other agencies were working as a team to combat the situation.
“It is a massive disaster, not just for the state but also for the country,” Tamang said, adding damages could be worth thousands of crores of rupees.
He said a team from the Ministry of Home Affairs would visit the state to assess the damage while the state government would form a technical committee by drawing dam experts, scientists, environmentalists, etc, and find out what the state should do in the future.
In a statement, the defence ministry said the search for the “22” missing Indian Army persons continued.
“The search for the missing Indian Army soldiers continues with the search focussing in the downstream in areas of Teesta Barrage. At the site of incident at Burdang near Singtam, the army vehicles are being dug out and stores being recovered. Additional resources in terms of teams of TMR (Tiranga Mountain Rescue), tracker dogs, and special radars have been brought in, to assist in the search operations,” the statement said.