8 killed, 4 missing in Hnahthial: Mizoram stone falconry collapsed

Mizoram stone falconry collapsed

Aizawl: At least eight people were killed and four others are missing after Mizoram stone falconry collapsed in Maudrah village of south Mizoram’s Hnahthial district on Monday, an official said.

Eight bodies of the 12 people reportedly missing have been recovered from the debris of the massive landslide by 9 am on Tuesday, the official said.

He said that a team of 2 officers and 13 staff of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) reached the spot on Tuesday morning.

People present at the spot also said that Assam Rifles and Border Security Force (BSF) troops were also part of the rescue operation.

The official added that the rescue operation is ongoing and will continue till all the missing persons are found.

The deputy commissioner of Hnahthial district said that out of the 12 persons reported missing, 4 were employees of ABCI Infrastructure Pvt Ltd while 8 others were employees of the contractor.
He said that five excavators and one each of stone crusher and drilling machine were completely buried under the debris.
He said that the area of ​​the landslide is about 5,000 square meters.

Earlier, Hnahthial Superintendent of Police (SP) Vineet Kumar said that the tragic incident took place around 3 pm on Monday in Maudarh village, which is 45 minutes away from Hnahthial city.

The SP said 13 people were working when a massive landslide occurred in the stone quarry and one worker managed to escape from the spot.

Eyewitnesses said that the workers had dug too deep and upset the stability of the stone quarry, resulting in the entire mountain collapsing on the workers.

The stone quarry is owned by ABCI, which is carrying out widening of a section of National Highway-54 between Hnahthial town and Dawn village.