Landslides kill four in Guwahati amid heavy rain
Guwahati: Four people, including three members of a family, were killed in two separate landslides in Guwahati on Tuesday, officials said. The incidents occurred amid incessant rainfall in the city and other parts of Assam, according to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA).
In the Mathgharia area near Noonmati, a house was buried under soil after a landslide from a hillside, killing three members of a family. The deceased were identified as Nagen Rajbongshi (50), his wife Sunu Rajbongshi (38), and their daughter Mina Rajbongshi (11). Their 19-year-old son, Biplab Rajbongshi, escaped the incident, officials said.
In a separate landslide at Satgaon near Narengi, a large boulder fell on a house while its occupants were sleeping, killing 65-year-old P Sumitra, wife of P Damru (75), according to Moononjan Ramchiary, response team commander of the fire and emergency services. Their son, P Romanna (45), and P Lakshmi (40) were injured but escaped from the collapsed structure. A neighbour, Dabolota Das, who rushed to help the family, suffered a hand injury and a fracture, Ramchiary said.
The Dispur fire and emergency services station received the distress call around 10 am and reached the spot soon afterwards. By then, local residents had completed the rescue operation, officials said. In Mathgharia, the bodies of the deceased were recovered by personnel from Fire and Emergency Services, along with local residents and police personnel, the ASDMA said.
The district administration said both areas are located in earthquake-prone and vulnerable zones, making houses built there particularly susceptible to landslides. Officials said intense monsoon rainfall loosens the soil and reduces slope stability, raising the risk to homes built on or near hillsides.
According to the ASDMA report, a total of five people were injured in landslide incidents across the state on Tuesday, including four in Kamrup (Metro) district and one in Hailakandi district. Authorities and emergency response teams have been carrying out rescue and relief operations in the affected areas.
Biplab Rajbongshi, who escaped the Mathgharia landslide, described the incident. "At around 5.30 am, I woke up. It had been raining, but not very heavy. So, I went back to sleep for a little while. I was sleeping on one bed, while my mother, father, and sister were on another bed. The debris fell mostly on their side, while only a portion at my end," he said while speaking to the media.