17 dead, several missing as stone quarry collapses in Mizoram amid rain

Aizawl, May 28

At least 17 people, including two minors, were killed and six to seven others were missing as a stone quarry collapsed in Mizoram’s Aizawl district on Tuesday morning amid incessant rain in the aftermath of Cyclone Remal, officials said.

Several other people also went missing in landslides elsewhere in the state capital which was cut off from the rest of the country.

The incident happened around 6 am in an area between Melthum and Hlimen on the southern outskirts of Aizawl town.

“We have recovered 17 bodies so far and the rescue operations are going on. We suspect that six to seven more people are still trapped under the rubble,” Mizoram Director General of Police Anil Shukla told PTI.

He said heavy rain was affecting rescue operations at the disaster site.

The rain triggered landslides at several other places in the state and at least two persons have been “swept away”, Shukla said.

Aizawl’s Deputy Commissioner Nazuk Kumar said the search operations will continue till the entire site is cleared.

A four-year-old boy and a six-year-old girl are among the victims of the stone quarry collapse, another police officer said.

“We have also rescued two persons alive from the site,” he said.

A landslide swept away a building in Aizawl’s Salem Veng, following which three persons went missing. Search is under way for them, an official said.

The state capital has been cut off from the rest of the country due to a landslide on National Highway 6 at Hunthar, officials said.

Besides, several intra-state highways have also been disrupted by landslides, they said.