Miraculous survival: Ram Singh recounts harrowing ordeal amidst Shimla landslide, temple collapse
Shimla, August 17: Following a devastating landslide that struck rain-ravaged Shimla district, a lone survivor, Ram Singh, recounted his experience in the aftermath of the Shiv Bari temple collapse incident in the Summer Hill area on Thursday. Recalling the harrowing event, Ram Singh said he was on the top floor when the calamity unfolded.
"I was sleeping in a house beside the temple. As soon as I woke up, there was a sudden loud noise and just after that something fell on me and I was under the debris. I shouted for help and people came to rescue me. The money we had was lost during the incident," said a sobbing Ram Singh.
He has requested the state government for additional aid as all his savings were lost in the disaster and he still had injuries. "I have injuries in the abdomen region and I need additional help from the government. Whatever money I had saved is lost. When the tree fell after the landslide the temple collapsed and we were buried in rubble and I shouted for help."
The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) on Thursday said a total of 13 bodies, among 21 people who went missing after a massive landslide struck the Summer Hill area of Shimla earlier this week, have been recovered.
Earlier, a family lost members spanning three generations in the mishap in which a temple in the Summer Hill area of rain-battered Shimla district was washed away following a landslide triggered by Monday’s cloudburst.
According to officials, seven members of the family, including three children were inside the Shiv temple when it collapsed.
Meanwhile, Indian Air Force officials informed on Wednesday said choppers belonging to the Western Air Command carried out over 50 sorties over the last 48 hours, rescuing over 780 citizens in the flood-affected areas of Kangra district in Himachal Pradesh.
Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu also conducted an aerial survey of the flood-hit regions of Indora and Fatehpur in Kangra district.