17 killed as rain leaves trail of destruction in Himachal, Haryana, Punjab

Heavy rain has left a trail of destruction in Himachal, Haryana and Punjab killing 17 people including 13 Army personnel in last 24 hours. While 14 people lost their lives in Kumarhatti in Solan district of Himachal Pradesh, two children were killed in Yamuna Nagar (Haryana) and a teenager girl lost her life in Jalandhar city.

Fourteen persons including 13 jawans of Indian Army and a civilian woman were killed when a multi-storey building came crumbling down due to heavy rain on the Kumarhatti - Nahan road in Solan on Sunday afternoon. The deceased army jawans were from the 4th Battalion of Assam Regiment from Dagshai Cantonment who had been to a dhaba, being operated from the building, to celebrate the promotion of their colleagues when the tragedy truck.

All the 42 comprising 30 Army personnel and 12 civilians who were trapped under the debris were rescued by teams of NDRF, with the assistance of the Indian Army, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and state police.

State Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur visited the spot on Monday morning and took stock of the situation. He also met the injured admit6ted in the hospital and wished them a speedy recovery.

The CM ordered a magisterial inquiry in the incident and ordered registration of a first information report against the building owner. Thakur said that initial investigation has found that the structure was not built up to specifications.

In another similar incident, two school going boys – Rajat Kumar alias Saurav (8) and his brother Manpreet alias Gaurav (10) were buried alive when the roof of their two-room house caved-in Saran village near Yamuna Nagar in Haryana on Sunday night. Their parents Rajesh (father), and Dimple (mother) were sleeping in the adjacent room along with their 3-year-old son when it was raining heavily.

Hearing a loud thud the parents woke up and raised an alarm following which the neighbours assembled and the injured were pulled out of the burbles. They were rushed to MMU Hospital Mullana in Ambala where the doctors declared them brought dead.

Rain also brought misery to a migrant family in Adarsh Nagar of Jalandhar city on Sunday night. A 10-year-old girl was killed and her father sustained injuries when the roof of a room of their house where they were sleeping collapsed. The girl Sushma was buried alive under the debris and was pulled out by the locals when her mother, who along with other family members was sleeping in the veranda, raised an alarm.