12 Indians killed in quarry collapse after cyclone rains

Published May 28, 2024
A boy wades through water during heavy rain, as Cyclone Remal hits the country, in the Shyamnagar area of Satkhira, Bangladesh on May 27, 2024.— Reuters
A boy wades through water during heavy rain, as Cyclone Remal hits the country, in the Shyamnagar area of Satkhira, Bangladesh on May 27, 2024.— Reuters

Torrential rains in the wake of a powerful cyclone caused the collapse of a quarry in India’s Mizoram state killing 12 people, government officials said on Tuesday.

“So far 12 bodies have been found, we are looking for more,” deputy commissioner of Aizawl district Nazuk Kumar told AFP.

Rescue efforts in the quarry were being hampered by “heavy rains”, police director general Anil Shukla said, NDTV news network reported.

Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma offered compensation to families of the victims of the “landslide due to Cyclone Remal”.

“I pray for the success of rescue and relief operations and wish a speedy recovery of the injured,” India’s President Droupadi Murmu said on social media.

In Mizoram, several highways and key roads were disrupted by landslides. All schools were shut and government employees were asked to work from home.

India’s weather office has issued warnings of extremely heavy rainfall across Mizoram and other northeastern states on Tuesday.

In India’s neighbouring Assam state, one person was killed and heavy rains had cut the power supply, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said in a statement.

The cyclone made landfall in low-lying Bangladesh and neighbouring India on Sunday evening with fierce gales and crashing waves.

Overall, at least 38 people died in the cyclone or storms in its wake.

In India, eight people died in West Bengal state, officials said Tuesday, updating an earlier toll of six, taking the total killed in the country to at least 21.

In neighbouring Bangladesh, which bore the brunt of the cyclone that made landfall on Sunday, at least 17 people died, according to the disaster management office and police.

Opinion

Editorial

Back in parliament
Updated 27 Jul, 2024

Back in parliament

It is ECP's responsibility to set right all the wrongs it committed in the Feb 8 general elections.
Brutal crime
27 Jul, 2024

Brutal crime

No effort has been made to even sensitise police to the gravity of crime involving sexual assaults, let alone train them to properly probe such cases.
Upholding rights
27 Jul, 2024

Upholding rights

Sanctity of rights bodies, such as the HRCP, should be inviolable in a civilised environment.
Judicial constraints
Updated 26 Jul, 2024

Judicial constraints

The fact that it is being prescribed by the legislature will be questioned, given the political context.
Macabre spectacle
26 Jul, 2024

Macabre spectacle

Israel knows that regardless of the party that wins the presidency, America’s ‘ironclad’ support for its genocidal endeavours will continue.