Death toll rises to 20 in landslide in India's Manipur

NEW DELHI: The death toll hit 20 from a massive landslide in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, officials said Saturday.

More than 40 people are missing from the landslide that hit the Tupul railway construction camp at midnight Wednesday in the Noney district.

A senior administrative official in the district, Solomon Fimate, told Anadolu Agency that a rescue operation is ongoing.

"Till now, we rescued 18 people alive," he said. "We are proceeding in the ongoing rescue operation cautiously, as the soil in the area is very loose."

Ministers of the state government, local legislators and officials are camping at landslide-affected sites in Tupul to oversee the rescue operation, Manipur Chief Minister Nongthombam Biren Singh said Friday.

"The loss of lives, including our armed forces personnel, is deeply saddening. We still have over 50 missing persons to be found," he said.

Among the dead are Indian Army personnel deployed for the protection of the under-construction railway line that was also hit by the landslide.

The death toll from floods in neighbouring Assam state hit 173.

Officials said late Friday evening that 14 people were killed in the last 24 hours from the floods.

-- BERNAMA