50 killed in landslides, rains in Himachal

More than 50 people, including women and children, were killed and scores others injured in landslides triggered by heavy rains across Himachal Pradesh since Monday as normal life was thrown out of gear in the hill state.

Around a dozen people, including children, were killed when an ancient temple caved in at Shimla following heavy rains that triggered a landslide on the Summer Hill on Monday. The death toll is likely to increase as several persons are said to be trapped under the debris.

Heavy rains continued to batter the state triggering landslides and collapse of houses in different parts of the hill state, according to the official sources.

Reports said that 19 people were killed in Mandi district in incidents of house collapse in the past 48 hours. Loss of lives was also reported from Solan, Kangra, Chamba, Sirmour and some other districts.

Relief and rescue operations were continuing in full swing and teams of SDRF, NDRF and Army have been pressed into service to rescue the trapped people. Heavy rains and landslides were however creating problems in carrying out rescue operations.

In Solan district seven members of a family were killed at Jadon village after their house caved in following a cloud burst, reports said.

Reports said that several roads connecting Shimla and other parts of the state to the rest of the country have been cut off after landslides at several places. Connectivity within the state has also been severally affected, the reports said.

Officials said that hundreds of tourists were stuck up at different places in the state after roads were cut off following landslides. All schools and colleges in the state were closed.

The state government has cancelled all cultural programs scheduled to be held on the Independence Day on Tuesday following the loss of lives and properties on a large scale in the state.