At least 15 Dead as Landslide Hits Bus in Northern India
At least 15 people have been confirmed dead after debris from a massive landslide struck a passenger bus in India’s northern state of Himachal Pradesh, local authorities said on Thursday.
The incident occurred near Bilaspur district as the bus travelled along a hilly stretch following days of heavy rainfall. Officials reported that between 20 and 25 passengers were on board when the landslide hit. The victims included nine men, four women, and two children.
Three injured children were rescued and taken to a nearby hospital for treatment, according to a statement from the office of the state’s Chief Minister, Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu. Rescue teams continued operations late into the night to locate other missing passengers believed to be buried under the debris.
Images from the scene showed the mangled remains of the bus lying on a mountain road, surrounded by mud and fallen rocks. Rescue workers were seen digging through the debris and using heavy machinery to clear the area while others searched manually through the mud-soaked belongings of passengers.
Authorities said persistent rainfall since Monday had made the mountainous terrain unstable, increasing the likelihood of landslides.
President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed condolences to the families of the victims and assured that relief efforts were underway.
This tragedy adds to a series of extreme weather incidents across South Asia in recent months. Unusually intense monsoon rains have triggered widespread flooding and landslides across India, Nepal, and other neighbouring countries.
In August, flash floods swept away an entire village in Uttarakhand, while at least 44 people were killed in Nepal last weekend due to landslides and flooding. Experts attribute the increasing frequency and severity of such disasters to climate change, which has disrupted traditional monsoon patterns and led to more erratic and extreme rainfall events across the region.
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