Massive landslide near Shimla, videos go viral

A massive landslide on a much-frequented National Highway near the state capital on Saturday buried at least six vehicles and parts of a temple, police said. However, there were no reports of any casualty.

Videos of rubble and boulders carrying along with a car as they rolled down the hill went viral on the social media.

"A portion of the cliff opposite the temple near Bhattakufer caved in. Boulders rolled down and smashed six-seven vehicles parked along the highway," a police official told IANS.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Rajinder Singh told reporters that three persons were rescued from the spot.

The area has been witnessing heavy rainfall for the past three days.

Police have diverted traffic via Sanjauli, on Shimla's outskirts.

The highway links the state capital with prominent tourist destinations like Kufri and Naldhera and apple belts of Jubbal, Narkanda and Kharapathar and the entire Kinnaur district.

A massive mudslide in state's Mandi district on August 13 swallowed a 150 metre stretch of road burying three homes, two buses and a bike and leaving 46 dead.

The incident occurred in the early hours on the Mandi-Pathankot highway near Kotropi village in Jogindernagar tehsil, 220 km from here, when two Himachal Road Transport Corporation buses had stopped at a kiosk on the highway for refreshments.

Four people were killed in landslides in two different parts of the state on Friday as the state experienced moderate to heavy rains, officials said.

"Three people were killed when boulders smashed their vehicle near Gambrola (in Bilaspur district)," a police official told IANS. A child was killed when boulders rolled down on to his house in Rohru town in Solan district, police said, adding he was sleeping alone in the house when the incident occurred.

Menawhile, Paonta Sahib town in Sirmaur district recorded the highest rainfall in the state at 137 mm till 8.30 a.m., while it was 118 mm in Naina Devi, 20 mm in Kufri and 33 mm in Shimla.

"Precipitation occurred at most places in the state with very heavy rainfall in Sirmaur and Bilaspur districts in the past 24 hours," said an official of the meteorological office.

There were reports of link road closure in interiors of Shimla, Sirmaur, Mandi, Kangra and Kullu districts, hampering movement of traffic.

A government spokesperson said the Satluj, Beas and Yamuna rivers and their tributaries were in spate in Kinnaur, Shimla, Kullu, Mandi, Bilaspur and Sirmaur districts.

These rivers enter Punjab and Haryana.

According to the Met office here, heavy rainfall is likely at some places in the state till Sunday and thereafter the intensity of the rains will be subdued.

--IANS

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