At least 15 people were killed after a bus was struck by a massive landslide in India’s northern state of Himachal Pradesh, local officials confirmed, as search and rescue operations continued amid ongoing rainfall and unstable terrain.
The incident occurred late Thursday on a hilly route near Bilaspur district, where the bus, carrying an estimated 20 to 25 passengers, was hit by debris cascading down a slope after days of heavy rain. Police reported that the dead include nine men, four women, and two children.
Three children who survived the incident were pulled from the rubble and taken to a nearby hospital for treatment, according to a statement from the office of Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu.
Efforts to locate additional missing passengers, feared dead, remained underway on Friday. Rescue teams, assisted by heavy machinery, were seen clearing debris from the mountain road while others sifted manually through the mud and wreckage in search of survivors or remains.
Video footage from ANI showed the twisted remains of the bus lying on a narrow road strewn with boulders and thick sludge, a testament to the destructive force of the landslide.
The region has experienced persistent rainfall since Monday, destabilising the already fragile mountain slopes and increasing the risk of further slides. The India Meteorological Department has issued alerts for continued rainfall in parts of Himachal Pradesh, cautioning residents and travellers to remain vigilant.
President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended their condolences to the victims’ families, calling the incident “deeply tragic.” Authorities have promised compensation for the families of the deceased.
The tragedy comes amid a broader wave of extreme weather events affecting South Asia, driven by intensified monsoon activity. In August, flash floods destroyed an entire village in neighbouring Uttarakhand. Just last weekend, at least 44 people were killed in Nepal following landslides and flooding triggered by torrential rain.
This year’s unusually intense monsoon season — which typically stretches from June to September, with a secondary cycle from October to December — has brought unpredictable downpours, disrupting livelihoods and infrastructure across the region. Experts link the worsening weather patterns to climate change, which they say is fuelling erratic bursts of rainfall and heightening disaster risks.
Source: Al Jazeera
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