Marangching tragedy : No body but bone recovered on Day 8
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, July 07 2022: A piece of bone has been recovered from the landslide affected area of Marangching, Noney district.

Even though teams of NDRF, SDRF, police, army, Assam Rifles and local villages carried on the search operation today too, they could not recover any body.

One body was recovered from Ijei River yesterday.

Further, a piece of bone was also recovered between 6.30 pm and 7 pm yesterday as the search operation was about to be wrapped up for the day.

The bone which was around one foot in length and had some flesh is said to be a vertebra.

However, it is not known yet whether the bone belonged to an animal or a human being.

Police have already deposited the bone at JNIMS mortuary.

Sources informed that the piece of bone may be subjected to DNA test.

Marangching tragedy : No body but bone recovered on Day 8

It is said that people who lived near the area devastated by the landslide reared both pigs and goats.

Notably, a massive landslide which occurred on the night of June 29 at Marangching buried a railway sub-station together with all the people and animals present in the surrounding area.

While 18 people were rescued on June 30, bodies of 48 victims have been recovered so far but bodies of 13 victims are still missing.

Ever since the tragic and massive landslide swept away a camp of the Territorial Army during the night of June 29, the story of the tragedy, the massive hunt for survivors and bodies of those killed has been occupying prime space in all the major newspapers published from Imphal.

Adding more to the sense of tragedy was the report that the last rites of a man engaged as a cook was performed here as the family just did not have the resources to take back the body home at Cachar in Assam.

Meanwhile, State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) Vice-Chairman Yanglet Haokip visited the Marangching landslide area today and held a meeting with officials of NDRF, Railways, State Police and district administration.

The meeting discussed how to detect and unearth bodies of the 13 persons who are still missing.

The SDMA Vice-Chairman was accompanied by a team of the Thadou Students Association.

While appreciating the efforts of the search parties to dig out bodies of all the victims buried by the landslide, Yanglet Haokip and the TSA team presented edible items to the personnel engaged in the search operations.