Shooting stone kills woman, granddaughter

A 70-year-old woman and her granddaughter died after they were hit by a huge shooting stone in their village near Mashobra in Shimla.

Geeta Devi and her 21-year-old granddaughter Varsha had gone to a jungle to gather leaves for their cattle when the accident happened on Sunday afternoon.

According to Gaurav Verma, vice pradhan of the Dummi panchayat, both of them were struck by a huge stone while they were gathering leaves, killing them on the spot.

Verma said that some children playing in the nearby ground saw the stone rolling down the hill and tried to alert both the women. “The two probably got, too, scared and could not get out of the way of the stone, and were struck on the head by the stone,” said Verma.

According to the locals, an earth moving machine was being used to level the field higher up in the hill. The stone reportedly got loose and rolled down the hill, killing the two women. Police have registered the case.