Surviving Joumoul villagers recall tragedy; take shelter at temporary relief camp
Source: Hueiyen News Service

Kakching, August 10 2015: In the aftermath of the Joumoul landslide tragedy that killed nine villagers including two children, most of the villagers are now taking shelter at a temporary relief camp set up at Utangpokpi Village near Sugnu.

A team of Natural Disaster Relief Committee (Kuki Area), Chandel District along with the media persons visited the displaced Joumoul villagers at the camp and handed over relief materials.

Reminiscing the tragic incident, one of the villagers said that after cracks developed in some houses, villagers sensed the possibility of a massive landslide by July 31 night.

The villagers began packing up and shifted their belongings out of their homes since early morning on August 1 .

At around 7 am or 8 am, a massive landslide occurred while the villagers were shifting out, he recalled.

Surviving Joumoul villagers recall tragedy

He said the villagers then began running in all directions for their lives.

Moments later, the mud and slush from the landslide washed away the whole village including the spot where the villagers were planning to shift, he added.

Some villagers came together and began searching for the missing persons.

However, they had to return due to thick fog and heavy downpour.

The next day, two villagers were sent to Assam Rifles Post located at Chahmol for giving them information about the incident.

On getting the information, Villagers of Aibol Joupi and Assam Rifles personnel rushed to the village for rescue operation and another team also came in a helicopter, said the surviving villager.

Chief of Joumoul Village Thongminlal Baite informed that out of nine villagers buried alive, only four bodies were recovered while the bodies of five male villagers could not be retrieved till date.

It may be mentioned that the relief camp at Utangpokpi Village was set up by the Natural Disaster Relief Committee (Kuki Area), Chandel District.

While expressing gratitude to the Government and others who have shown concern for the villagers, Baite appealed the Government to dispatch an expert team for conducting a survey of the area so as to find out whether it is safe for resettlement or not.