Manikaran, Himachal Pradesh:
Eight people were killed and ten others injured after a building adjoining the historic Manikaran Sahib Gurdwara caved in due to a massive landslide this afternoon.
Deputy Commissioner of Kullu Rakesh Kanwar confirmed that eight bodies which were buried under huge boulders have been extricated while search is on for more.
Eyewitnesses claimed that the dead could be more than ten in number as a large number of people had taken shelter in the building, close to the Gurdwara, when the tragedy struck.
The district administration has sought the assistance of the Gurdwara authorities for locating and identifying the bodies as most people staying in the building were outsiders.
People ran helter-skelter as boulders fell on the building and many were trapped as a huge portion of the three-storey building virtually collapsed.
The locals and the Gurdwara management immediately swung into action and started rescue operations while Additional District Magistrate, Sub Divisional Magistrate, Kullu and other district officials rushed to the spot.
Those injured have been admitted to a zonal hospital at Kullu and the condition of seven of them is stated to be serious.