Death toll in Mizoram landslides reaches to 29, 7 still missing: Police

The death toll in multiple landslides in Mizoram’s Aizawl district climbed to 29 after two more bodies were recovered from two locations on Wednesday, a police officer said. Aizawl Superintendent of Police (SP) Rahool Alwal said that one body each has been recovered from the debris at Melthum and Hlimen areas, both on the southern outskirts of Aizawl.With the new recoveries, the death toll in a massive landslide at a stone quarry at Methum has risen to 15 and that of the landslides at Hlimen to 5, he said.

He said that 27 bodies, including 3 at Aizawl’s Salem veng locality, 2 each at Falkawn and Aibawk villages and one each at Lungsei and Kelsih villages near Aizawl, have been recovered till yesterday.He said that seven more others are believed to be still trapped under the debris at different locations.

Of the 29 victims, 23 are Mizoram residents, five people are from Jharkhand and one from Assam’s Silchar town, according Alwal.  Among the deceased are a four-year-old boy and a six-year-old girl.