Rains wreak havoc in Himachal, three killed

Shimla: Heavy overnight rains pounded Himachal Pradesh, triggering floods and landslides that left three members of a family dead and submerged a bus stand in Mandi.

The three were killed when a house collapsed following a landslide in Boi panchayat in Nehri area of Sundernagar subdivision in Mandi district.

Deputy Commissioner, Mandi, Apoorv Devgan told PTI that three bodies have been recovered while two persons have been rescued, Officials said the rains led to floods in Son and Bharand drains in Dharampur in Mandi district, resulting in flooding of a bus stand, damaging a workshop, pump houses, shops and over 20 buses.

Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri in his Facebook post said, "Dharampur bus stand, over two dozen HRTC buses, shops, pump house and workshop has been damaged".

In Shimla, several vehicles were buried following a landslide near Himland in the heart of the city and the main circular road was blocked causing inconvenience to school- going children.

"It was raining heavily and around 1 am, we heard a deafening sound with trees and debris sliding down and immediately moved our vehicles to escape", Gautam and Rahul Shukla, who were sleeping in their vehicle parked near Himland when the landslide occurred, said.