On Wednesday, a massive landslide took place on National Highway 5 in Himachal Pradesh's Kinnaur district. A truck, a state-run bus and other vehicles were buried in the landslide that occurred over a large stretch on the highway near Nigulsari, 61 km from Reckong Peo, the district headquarters of Kinnaur. The Himachal Road Transport Corporation bus was on its way to Haridwar from Rekong Peo via Shimla.
However, there was no official confirmation about the number of people missing in the disaster.
An official said on Thursday, four dead bodies have been recovered and the death toll has been at 14. Kinnaur Deputy Commission told the news agency PTI that four more dead bodies were recovered after the search operation was resumed today. He added that the total recovered bodies are 14.
Also Read: Two killed in Himachal landslide, 10 rescued from debris
The State Disaster Management Director Sudesh Kumar Mokhta said that the Himachal Pradesh Road Transportation Corporation bus, which was on its way to Haridwar from Rekong Peo via Shimla, was recovered in extremely bad condition. The vehicle was buried in the debris after the landslide. However, the buried Bulero car is still under the debris.
The rescue video of the bus has been circulated all over the internet and in the video, it can be heard that the bus has been found by the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) 17th Battalion Police.
The rescue operation is carried out by State Disaster Management Team, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, Himachal Police, and home guards. As per the Mokhta, the rescue operation was resumed at 6 am and last night the operation was suspended at 10 pm.
On Wednesday, 10 dead bodies were recovered and around 13 people were recovered with injuries.
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur has said that Army may deploy a chopper to ease the search operation, but the army's help would depend upon the weather condition.