Five killed in Mizoram landslides, roads blocked

Aizawl, Sep 17 (IANS) At least five persons from two families, including a minor girl, were killed as their houses were swept away in huge landslides caused by heavy rain on Saturday in Mizoram's Aizawl district, police said.

According to police, heavy landslides after intense rainfall washed away three houses at Tlungvel village killing a couple and their four-year-old girl. The victims' 11-year-old son, however, survived with minor injuries.

"The bodies of the girl and her mother were recovered on the spot, but the man's body was located two km away where he was swept away by the landslides," a Mizoram police official said.

In the same village, an elderly woman and her 25-year-old son were also killed as their house too was swept away in the landslides.

Landslides were also reported from various places in mountainous Mizoram.

Several highways in the state were blocked due to the mudslides and uprooting of trees and electric poles due to the heavy rain.

Telecommunication lines were snapped and power supply was also disrupted in some districts in the northeastern state.

According to meteorological department officials, heavy rain took place on Saturday in Tripura, Mizoram and several other states in northeast India affecting normal life.