A young girl lost both parents in the landslide Makhuam village near Tupul in Noney district

A 12 year old girl, Gaidiuliu Gondaimei lost both her parents in the landslide that struck the Northern Frontier Railway worksite and an Indian Army company location atop a hill at Makhuam village (Marangching) near Tupul in Noney district, Manipur on the intervening night of June 29-30, 2022. Both her parents were reportedly buried alive along with several others in the incident.

The girl’s parents, Lungpuilan and Thuisinliu were running a small goods shop and engaged in livestock farming in the vicinity of the railway worksite for their livelihood. As the landslide-affected villagers moved to safer areas on June 30 amid the sound of several ambulances rushing to the incident site, one of the village women pointed to the girl and told media team at ground zero, “She is the daughter of the couple who were killed in the landslide.” As the rains continued to pour and the girl quickly shied away from the camera and walked on along with the village women, perhaps to a safer place but an unknown future.

The natural catastrophe left over 42 people dead and several injured. At least 18 people were rescued alive, while several other were still missing, as per official sources as on July 4.

Villagers said that those buried alive in the landslide debris included two families – one couple and a child from Makhuam village (Marangching Part-4), and another couple from the village (Marangching Part 5). They have been living around a NF railway platform construction site, rearing livestock for their livelihood. The people searched for the two family members, but they could not be found.

One of the women killed along with her husband and child was said to be four-month pregnant as revealed by her grieving father-in-law named Gondaimei Lungaiphun, to the media.

While some mourned, volunteers and the official rescue team continued with their search for the other missing bodies relentlessly in the slushy and muddy landslide debris, undaunted by the poor weather condition that made their task difficult.

You may also like...