Tragedy in Himachal: Massive Landslide in Mandi’s Sundernagar Claims 7 Lives, Including 4 Members of Same Family
Mandi (The Uttam Hindu): A devastating landslide struck Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi district on Monday late evening, leaving behind a trail of destruction and sorrow. The deadly incident in Sundernagar’s BBMB Colony claimed seven lives, including four members of a single family.
According to officials, the house of Gurpreet Singh, a local bus driver, was completely buried when heavy rainfall triggered massive debris from the hillside behind his home. Gurpreet, his wife Bharti (30), their 2.5-year-old daughter Keerat, and his mother Surendra Kaur were inside at the time. Local residents and rescue teams rushed to the spot and managed to pull out Bharti and Keerat within an hour, but both were declared dead on arrival at hospital. Gurpreet’s body was recovered around 1:30 a.m., and his mother’s remains were retrieved early Tuesday morning.
Eyewitnesses revealed that cries and voices could be heard from beneath the rubble for a long time, but the weight of the debris delayed rescue operations. Gurpreet’s brother Parmeet Singh described the tragedy as unbearable, saying the family had no chance of survival once the hillside collapsed.
The landslide also destroyed the home of Shanti Devi, a resident of BBMB Colony who lived alone. She too was killed in the collapse. Adding to the devastation, a scooter and a Tata Sumo vehicle passing through the area at the time were swept into the debris. The scooter rider, Prakash Sharma of Dadhyal, and Sumo passenger Rahul from Sundernagar, both lost their lives.
During overnight rescue operations, around 11 p.m., teams discovered a vehicle bumper under the debris, confirming more entrapments. By 9:46 a.m. Tuesday, the vehicle and its driver’s body were also recovered.
Despite continuous search operations through the night, fresh heavy rainfall on Tuesday morning hampered relief efforts. Authorities have sent all recovered bodies to Sundernagar hospital for post-mortem before handing them over to the grieving families. The disaster has left the entire Sundernagar region in mourning, as families and neighbors come to terms with the sudden and brutal loss of life.