Itanagar, Jul 9: A massive mudslide at Lohitpur under Tezu circle in Arunachal Pradesh's Lohit district claimed the lives of two construction labourers, while four others escaped or were rescued in a swift multi-agency rescue operation.
According to the District Disaster Management Officer (DDMO), six construction labourers were trapped when the mudslide occurred on Wednesday. One labourer managed to come out on his own, while the remaining five were rescued during a coordinated operation by the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), the Army, Police and other responding agencies.
The rescue operation was closely supervised by the DDMO, Superintendent of Police, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Circle Officer, SDRF personnel and other officials, who remained at the site to coordinate the efforts.
Although all five trapped labourers were rescued, two later succumbed to their injuries despite being immediately shifted to Tezu Zonal General Hospital in an Army ambulance. Doctors declared them dead after arrival at the hospital.
The deceased have been identified as Rahul Kumar (26), a resident of Sihkund in Bihar's Bhagalpur district, and Bipin Kumar (33) of Navgachia, Pratap Nagar in Bhagalpur district. Both were working as construction labourers at Lohitpur and were staying there temporarily.
Rahul Kumar was rescued at around 2 pm and was declared dead at 4:30 pm, while Bipin Kumar was pulled out at around 3:20 pm and was declared dead at about 5 pm.
Police registered two unnatural death (UD) cases, and the bodies have been kept at the mortuary of Tezu Zonal General Hospital.
The DDMO said the rescue operation was completed successfully despite difficult conditions, with coordinated efforts by the SDRF, Army, Police and other responding agencies.