Toll rises to 16 after landslide hits private bus in Himachal's Bilaspur

The death toll in a massive landslide that hit a private bus in Himachal Pradesh's Bilaspur district increased to 16 with the recovery of a child's body on Wednesday morning as the search and rescue operation concluded, officials said.

The incident took place on Tuesday evening when a huge portion of a mountain gave way and fell on the moving bus in the Bhalughat area near Berthin. A total of 15 bodies were pulled out from the debris by Tuesday night.

"A total of 16 bodies have been recovered while two children rescued. Rescue teams have thoroughly searched the accident site and also broken a hanging part of the debris to look for any trapped people," Bilaspur Superintendent of Police Sandeep Dhawal said.

Rescue operations have concluded after no trace of any trapped person was found, the SP said, adding they have no information about any missing person.

The search operations, which were halted late last night due to poor visibility and mud sliding, resumed on Wednesday morning with two teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), locals, police, home guards, and firemen engaged in the search.

Dog squads were pressed into service to search the victims along with machinery to remove the heavy rocks, officials from the NDRF said.

The deceased included nine men, four women and three children, the officials said.

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said the bus carrying 18 passengers was buried after a massive landslide in Bilaspur district on Tuesday. With the recovery of one more body on Wednesday, the death toll increased to 16 while two children were rescued, he told reporters here.

Sukhu said that as soon as the information was received, the government launched rescue operations.

"It was a very unfortunate incident. The government has announced relief of Rs 4 lakh to the bereaved families," he added.

Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri, who was in Kullu for Dussehra festival immediately rushed to the spot while Urban Development Minister Rajesh Dharmani who was in Delhi for a meeting also returned to Bilaspur, Sukhu said.

Attributing the landslide to excessive rains during the monsoon, he said, "We are experiencing snowfall in high hills and excessive rains in other areas...such incidents normally don't occur during the month of October. These are manifestation of climate change."

Sukhu said the state suffered a loss of Rs 7,000 crore during this monsoon and that the relief package of Rs 1,500 crore announced by the prime minister has not been received.

He also cautioned commuters to drive carefully on narrow roads as landslides have become a natural phenomenon.

The 15 victims whose bodies were recovered on Tuesday were identified as Naksh (7), Aarav (4), Sanjeev (35), Vimla (35), Kamlesh (36), Kanta Devi (51), Anjana (29), Bakshi Ram (42), Narender Sharma (52), Krishan Lal (30), Chuni Lal (52), Rajnish (36), Rajeev alias Sonu (40), Sharif Khan (25) and Praveen Kumar (40).

A child whose body was found on Wednesday morning was identified as Rahul (7).

The bodies of the deceased were handed over to their family members and an amount of Rs 25,000 has been provided to the families of each deceased as immediate relief, the officials said.

The deceased included four members of a family — wives of two brothers and two children of one of the brothers — who were returning home after attending a function.

The children of the other sibling — Arushi and Shaurya — were among those rescued and have been sent home after treatment at AIIMS Bilaspur, an official said.

"My wife and two children, and my brother's wife and their two children, were returning home from a function when the tragedy struck. Only my children are alive now," Raj Kumar, father of Arushi and Shaurya, said.

Deputy Chief Minister Agnihotri, who took stock of the rescue operations at the accident site and also met the victims' families on Tuesday night, said that the region had been witnessing rain for the past two days.

It seems that the accident took place due to the sliding of the mountain following heavy downpour, he said, adding a magisterial inquiry has been ordered into the incident.

"Himachal is a hilly state where construction of big roads, bridges and tunnels is taking place. So, there is a need to review whether the present development model is sustainable," he said, adding that the state suffered losses of about Rs 20,000 crore due to different natural disasters since 2023.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund (PMNRF) to the next of kin of each deceased, while the injured would get Rs 50,000.