In a tragic incident, 27-year-old Pratiksha Sunil Patil from Nagpur was killed along with eight tourists after a landslide took place in the Sangla-Chitkul valley area of Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh on Sunday afternoon.
The tourists were in their tempo traveller on Sunday after when heavy boulders fell on their tempo in a landslide near Basteri in Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh, police said.
Multiple landslides triggered by recent rains occurred near Basteri on Sangla-Chitkul road at 1.25 pm, resulting in a bridge collapse and damage to some vehicles, they said.
The deceased have been identified as Maya Devi Biyani (55), her son Anurag Biyani (31) and daughter Richa Biyani (25) of Rajasthan, Pratiksha Sunil Patil (27) of Maharashtra, Deepa Sharma (34) of Jaipur, Amogh Bapat (27), Satish Katakbar (34) of Chhattisgarh, driver Umrab Singh (42) of West Bengal and Kumar Ulhas Vedpathak (37).
According to the police, nine people died and two others were injured after heavy boulders fell on a tempo traveller. The passengers were going to Sangla from Chitkul.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said all arrangements are being made for the treatment of those injured and announced an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh each for the next of kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 to the injured from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund.
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur also expressed grief over the deaths and asked the district administration to ensure immediate relief and rescue operations.
