Gram pradhan loses life saving others, 7 of his family die too in Mandi

Dipender Manta

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Mandi, August 22

Khem Chand, pradhan of Kashan panchayat in the Gohar area of Mandi, saved the lives of other villagers by constantly alerting them about the impending danger due to incessant rain but he along with seven members of his family was killed in house collapse.

Khem Chand, his wife and their two children, father-in-law, sister-in-law and her two children were killed when their house collapsed following a huge landslide. Manoj Kumar, a villager, says that on the fateful Friday night, Khem Chand was alerting people about danger due to continuous heavy rain by sending messages on WhatsApp. “It was heart wrenching to see the body of Khem Chand’s wife being retrieved from debris, with their two dead children clinging to her,” says Jhabe Ram, Khem Chand’s inconsolable younger brother.

Khem Chand’s father Roop Singh is heartbroken. He says that the incident has given him lifetime pain as the horrifying memories of Khem Chand’s family buried under house debris will haunt them all their life.

“The death of children is a big shock for parents to bear. I lost my 40-year-old son Khem Chand, two daughters-in-law and four grandchildren. I have lost the urge to live as what can be more agonising than losing your entire family, including grandchildren,” says Roop Singh.

The rain disaster has devastated seven other families in Mandi district, which have lost their loved ones in landslide and flash flood incidents on Friday night. The affected families are in deep trauma.

Bibi, grandmother of Star Mohammad, is devastated as six members of her family were washed away in flash floods at Sandoa village in the Darang area. The bodies of two family members have been recovered while the four others are still missing. She is in trauma and unable to speak.

Mahender Singh, who lost his 30-year-old wife at Keyoli village in Seraj in flash floods, is in utter distress. Similarly, the family of two youths, who were killed when their motorbike was hit by a big boulder near Panarsa on Saturday, are also inconsolable.