Shimla: The search and rescue operation for the Kinnaur landslide victims, trapped in a Himachal Road Transport Corporation bus and a four-wheeler was resumed early on Thursday. The rescue work resumed at 6 am, the state Disaster Management Director Sudesh Kumar Mokhta said.
The rescue operation is being carried out jointly by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and the members of local police and home guards, he added.
Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur along with MLA Kinnaur, Jagat Singh Negi will visit the accident site and will take stock of the situation today. He will also meet the families of the victims.
Expressing condolences over the incident, Chief Minister Jairam Thakur stated that the rescue operation will likely be ended by mid-noon today and the situation will also be cleared.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah held a telephonic conversation over Kinnaur landslide with the CM and assured all possible help to the state.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also expressed grief over the loss of lives in the incident and wished speed recovery to the injured. "The landslide tragedy at Kinnaur is very saddening. In this hour of grief, my thoughts are with the families of those who lost their lives. May the injured recover at the earliest. Rescue operations are underway and everything possible is being done to assist those still trapped" PM tweeted.
Read: Landslides in Himachal, one killed, two injured
The authorities had suspended the operation at around 10 pm on Wednesday. The HRTC bus, which had been on its way from Reckong Peo to Haridwar via Shimla, was hit by the boulders after the landslide around noon near Chaura village on national highway number five in Nigulsari area of Nichar tehsil.
Ten people were killed, while 13 were rescued with injuries and several others are feared buried under the debris after the landslide trapped the bus and other vehicles on Wednesday.
The number of dead may further increase as the HRTC bus and the four-wheeler and its passengers were not found under the debris and are still untraceable. It might be possible that both the vehicles rolled down with the debris, he added.
Eight of the dead were found trapped in a Tata Sumo taxi during the search and rescue operation on Wednesday itself. A truck rolled down towards a riverside due to shooting stones and the driver's body was recovered on Wednesday. A fully damaged Alto car was recovered on Wednesday but no one was found inside the car.
