House collapses after cloudburst in Himachal Pradesh's Sirmaur, five of family feared trapped under debris

Fam. feared trapped in Himachal Pradesh house collapse due to cloudburst; search & rescue ops underway; 231 dead in rain-related incidents; 190 roads closed; yellow warning of heavy rains issued.

Five members of a family are feared trapped under the debris of a house that collapsed after water from a cloudburst gushed into a village in Himachal Pradesh’s Sirmaur district, officials said on August 10.

The cloudburst occurred in the Poanta Sahib area of the district on August 9 night, they said and added that water entered several houses in Malagi Dadiyat village.

One of these houses collapsed. Five members of a family are feared trapped under its debris, the officials said. The State emergency operation centre stated that heavy damages have been caused to properties in Malagi Dadiyat and the house of Kuldeep Singh, who works at the Public Works Department, has collapsed.

Those feared trapped are Mr. Singh, his wife Jeeto Devi, Rajni Devi, Nitesh and Deepika. Search and rescue operations are underway, the officials said.

Following the cloudburst, a section of the National Highway-707, connecting Poanta with Shallai, was blocked, making it difficult for officials from the administration and police to reach the Malagi Dadiyat.

The road’s section between Rajban and Sataun was blocked and due to the cloudburst, the water level of the Giri river has also increased, the officials said.

The administration is trying to get personnel from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) to aid operations, they said.