9 killed in landslides

Himachal: Nine people were killed and three others injured in multiple landslides in Himachal Pradesh’s Kinnaur district on Sunday, police said.
The landslides occurred near Batseri on Sangla-Chitkul road. The casualties occurred after heavy boulders fell on a tempo traveller carrying 11 people, according to news agency PTI.
The landslides also triggered a bridge collapse at Batseri in Sangla valley in Kinnaur district. Several roads were also blocked in the aftermath of the landslides.
Monsoon has been wreaking havoc in parts of Himachal Pradesh, with flash floods hitting Dharmashala earlier this month. Visuals had emerged of an overflowing Manjhi river in Dharamshala wiping away nearly 10 shops in the area.
The district administration had instructed tourists to postpone their visit to Dharamsala in view of the heavy rains.
Expressing his condolences over the death of the people in the landslides, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh each for the next of the kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 to the injured from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund.
President Ram Nath Kovind also said that was deeply saddened by the news of the death of many people in a landslide in Himachal Pradesh’s Kinnaur and expressed his deepest condolences to the bereaved families.
“Deeply saddened by the news of the death of many people in the landslide accident in Kinnaur, Himachal Pradesh. Express my deepest condolences to the bereaved families and wish the injured people a speedy recovery,” Kovind tweeted in Hindi.
Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur also expressed grief over the deaths and asked the district administration to ensure immediate relief and rescue operations.