AFP, Kolkata :
Landslides triggered by heavy rain killed at least 21 people across India’s famed tea-growing region of Darjeeling, with more feared trapped under mounds of mud and debris, police said Wednesday.
Rescuers were digging through tonnes of sludge searching for residents after overnight landslides struck homes built on slopes in the towns of Mirik, Kalimpong and Darjeeling in West Bengal state.
“Rescuers have so far dug out 13 bodies in Mirik, five bodies in Kalimpong and three bodies in Darjeeling town,” Darjeeling district police superintendent Amit P Javalgi said. “At least 15 people are missing in Kalimpong,” he told AFP.
Javalgi described mud and water barrelling down hills in the worst-hit tourist town of Mirik along with Kalimpong hill station further north.
Landslides triggered by heavy rain killed at least 21 people across India’s famed tea-growing region of Darjeeling, with more feared trapped under mounds of mud and debris, police said Wednesday.
Rescuers were digging through tonnes of sludge searching for residents after overnight landslides struck homes built on slopes in the towns of Mirik, Kalimpong and Darjeeling in West Bengal state.
“Rescuers have so far dug out 13 bodies in Mirik, five bodies in Kalimpong and three bodies in Darjeeling town,” Darjeeling district police superintendent Amit P Javalgi said. “At least 15 people are missing in Kalimpong,” he told AFP.
Javalgi described mud and water barrelling down hills in the worst-hit tourist town of Mirik along with Kalimpong hill station further north.
