Slides kill five in Sikkim

Mangled remains of the house damaged by the landslide at Upper Gurpisey

Rajeev Ravidas, TT, Kalimpong, Sept. 20: Five persons died and two got injured in separate landslides triggered by heavy overnight rain in South Sikkim in the early hours today.

The first landslide occurred at Upper Gurpisey near Namchi, the headquarters of South Sikkim district, around 2am and a house was damaged completely. Rescue team recovered three bodies from the debris of the house later in the morning. The dead were Nikhil Rai, 11, Nikita Rai, 15, and Passangkit Bhutia, 21.

South Sikkim district collector Raj Yadav said two others had been injured in the incident. They are Bishnu Rai and Ram Kumari Pradhan.

"Both the injured have been admitted to a hospital at Namchi," he said.

The second landslide happened an hour later at Upper Bokrong where the house of Rajkumar Tamang came crashing down. Tamang's wife Manju and their daughter Angel died in the incident.

"These landslides occurred due to heavy rain. Some more slides have been reported in some other locations, which led to closure of roads," said Yadav.

According to sources at the Regional Meteorological Office in Gangtok, isolated places in the state are expected to receive very heavy rain in the next 48 hours, raising the spectre of more landslides.