3 Of Assam Family Die In Landslide, Teen Son Survives

Three members of a family died in Guwahati's Noonmati area on Tuesday morning after a landslide struck their house. One member of the family was rescued from the debris and is currently undergoing treatment.

The incident happened at around 8 am in the Mathgharia area of the city, where a portion of a hill collapsed and fell onto the house, trapping the family members under the debris.

The victims have been identified as Nagen Rajbongshi (44), his wife Sanu Rajbongshi (38), and their 12-year-old daughter, Meena Rajbongshi. All three died after being buried under the debris. Their 19-year-old son, Biplab Rajbongshi, was rescued alive from under the debris, and is currently undergoing treatment, police said. 

According to a senior officer, the family was asleep when the landslide occurred.

The bodies were recovered by the security teams of the district disaster management department and sent to Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) for postmortem.

The landslide is suspected to have been triggered by the incessant rainfall that Guwahati has been witnessing since early Monday night. According to local residents, soil from the hilltop collapsed onto the house.

Locals said the man worked as a daily-wage labourer and the family, with their two children, had been living in the area for several years.

There have been two other major landslides in Amsing and Athgaon and one person each has reportedly died in these landslides. The authorities, however, are yet to confirm this.

Several low-lying areas of Guwahati are submerged following continuous heavy rain.

In a separate landslide incident in Guwahati, a 65-year-old woman from Andhra Pradesh's Vishakhapatnam was killed after a huge boulder rolled down a hillside and crashed into a house in the Satgaon area on Tuesday.

The victim was identified as P. Sumitra, who had travelled to Guwahati with her husband to visit their son and daughter-in-law. 

Her son, P. Ramanna, daughter-in-law P. Lakshmi and another family member were seriously injured and admitted to the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) for treatment, officials said.

Sumitra's husband, P. Demru and 17-year-old grandson, P. Mahesh,  escaped unhurt. The incident tool place in Satgaon's Taltala locality when a massive bolder came crashing down from a nearby hill, officials said.

(With inputs from Nakul Rabha)