Sunday 9 June 2013

Police, army rescuers abandon search for Taplejung landslide victims


Hopes of finding the three missing, including two children, alive have been exhausted after the rescue and salvage operation was called off Friday in the face of continuous mudslides.

All rescue teams of the Nepal Army (NA), Nepal Police and Armed Police Force (APF) returned to their own bases, saying continuing landslips made rescue impossible. Now only the locals are left to search for their missing neighbors.

The locals who gathered to rebuild the pathway wiped out by the landslide at the Thukima area, where a landslide killed nine people on Wednesday, said a putrid odor of rotting flesh has permeated the area.

The locals surmise that the stench is from the bodies of the dead and the livestock carcasses buried in the rubble.

“There is a putrid smell along the way,” said Nani Bahadur Kedem, a local.

Locals said there is no hope of even recovering the bodies of the missing a rescue team from the Nepal Army and police has returned to base at district headquarters and the locals are unable to continue with the salvage work.

Nine people, eight from one family, were killed in the landslide trigged by incessant downpour at Thukima-6 in Taplejung, Wednesday. Tej Bahadur Siba, 28, Kaji Siba, 10, and Ashika Siba, 4, are still missing in the landslide. Over a dozen cattle and other livestock also vanished in the landslide.

The bodies of all nine people were cremated Friday. While the eight dead bodies of the same family were buried in one single grave, Sukmaya Sawa was cremated elsewhere.

Meanwhile, over 250 students from six local VDCs are unable to attend school as the way to school is blocked by the landslide. According to Ishowari Prasad Bhattarai, principal of Tribhuvan Higher Secondary School, the students cannot put their lives at risk as the landslide has destroyed the pathway leading to their school.

Sunday 9 June 2013

http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=55894

http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=55833

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