Kullu, September 9: Five members of a family were killed early Tuesday when their house collapsed following a landslide in Sharmani village of Kullu district’s Nirmand subdivision, authorities said.
Police confirmed that eight people were trapped when the house gave way around 1:30 a.m. after heavy rainfall. “Five lives were lost and three others were pulled out alive by villagers,” said a police officer. The survivors were taken to a hospital in Nirmand, sub-divisional magistrate Manmohan Singh noted.
The victims included Tripta Devi, her son Chunni Lal, daughter-in-law Anjana Kumari, and grandchildren Bhopesh, 5, and Jagriti, 7. The family belonged to Shiv Ram, who survived because he was resting in the veranda at the time. “It all happened within moments,” said Bhoga Ram, the gram panchayat pradhan, adding that Shiv Ram’s brother Dharam Das and his wife Kala Devi were also injured and admitted to hospital. Their son was away when the landslide struck.
Eyewitnesses recounted that villagers rushed to dig through the rubble despite the darkness and rain, saving three members before authorities arrived.
The disaster comes amid a particularly deadly monsoon in Himachal Pradesh. Since June 20, the state has recorded 370 deaths, including 205 from rain-related incidents such as landslides, flash floods, cloudbursts, and electrocution, according to the State Disaster Management Authority.
Widespread damage has also crippled road connectivity. Officials said 619 roads remain blocked across Himachal, including four national highways. NH-3 between Mandi and Dharampur is shut in both Mandi and Kullu, while NH-5 — the Old Hindustan-Tibet road from Kalka to Kinnaur — is cut off in Kinnaur. NH-503A linking Punjab to Bhota is blocked at Una, and NH-305 from Aut to Sainj remains closed in Mandi and Kullu.
