Three soldiers were killed and six people remained untraced after landslides struck an army camp at Chaten in north Sikkim around 7pm on Sunday following four days of heavy rain in the region.
The bodies of “Havildar Lakhwinder Singh, Lance Naik Munish Thakur and porter Abhishek Lakhada” have been recovered, an army source said.
An officer, his wife and their daughter are missing along with three other army personnel, the sources said.
Sources said the landslide at Chaten, about 3km north of Chungthang, hit a portion of the army’s housing quarters.
“The quarters were sandwiched between two sets of landslides, some descending from the top of the hills and a few originating from areas below the quarters,” a source said.
“Rescue teams are working round-the-clock under challenging conditions to locate the six missing (people),” news agency PTI quoted an officer as saying.
The army did not reveal any further details about the victims but said four jawans had been rescued with minor injuries.
Lt Gen. Zubin Minawalla, GOC, Trishakti Corps, is overseeing the rescue efforts.
Tourists rescued
On Monday, 1,678 stranded tourists were rescued from rain-battered Lachung in north Sikkim in 284 vehicles and 16 motorbikes, a Sikkim government official said.
Sources said the tourists, who included 380 children, had been stuck in Lachung since Saturday with heavy rain triggering multiple landslides at Theeng and Chungthang in Mangan district.
Another group of 100-odd tourists are stuck in Lachen with all the roads to the town washed away.
“We are hopeful that rescue efforts will start tomorrow (Tuesday). They are all staying in their hotels, and there is no scarcity of food as the hotels are well stocked,” a state government source said.
Lachen and Lachung are two major tourist attractions in north Sikkim. From Lachen, tourists can visit the Gurudongmar Lake, situated at 17,800ft. Lachung is near the picturesque Yumthang Valley, situated at 11,600ft.
Teesta plunge
Eight tourists from Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and Tripura have been missing since Thursday night after their vehicle plunged 1,000 feet into the Teesta from the Chungthang-Lachen highway in north Sikkim.
The unceasing rain has hobbled the search for the eight and their local driver. The Teesta has swollen further since the accident.
Rescue operation underway after a landslide hit a military camp at Chhaten in Sikkim.
“Rescuers located the vehicle in the river on Saturday but with the rise in water levels since then, we cannot see it now,” a source said.
Travel advisory
Sikkim’s tourism department has advised tourists to be careful while travelling and to plan their trips based on the latest road and weather updates from official sources.
“Your safety remains our utmost priority. In the event of road blockages or any unforeseen circumstances, necessary relief and evacuation support will be promptly provided to the stranded tourists,” it said.
Continuing rainfall since May 29 has triggered landslides in several parts of Mangan district, causing partial damage to bridges in Phidang and Sangkalang and disrupting road connectivity for several days.
With rainfall exceeding 130mm, major damage has occurred along the routes to key tourist destinations including Lachen, Lachung, Gurudongmar, the Valley of Flowers and Zero Point.
Two crucial bailey bridges along the Lachen axis have been washed away.
Sikkim chief secretary R. Telang chaired a high-level meeting at the Tashiling secretariat in Gangtok on Monday evening to review the disaster situation in Mangan district.
Rescue operations under way after a landslide hit a military camp at Chaten in Sikkim. PTI
“The meeting focused on key issues such as road blockages, evacuation of stranded tourists, and the urgent restoration of essential services like power, roadway and telecommunications,” a government source said.
A National Disaster Response Force team, equipped with satellite phones and necessary equipment, may be dispatched from Siliguri to Chaten on Tuesday.