Six army personnel still missing after Sunday landslide in North Sikkim

Indian Express

2 days ago

A multi-agency rescue operation is underway in North Sikkim, with airlifts being used to evacuate hundreds of stranded tourists and deliver aid. Continuous torrential rain has triggered widespread landslides across North Sikkim, affecting areas such as Lachen, Lachung, Chungthang, and Phidang.
Three army personnel died, and six others remain missing after a rain-triggered landslide struck a military camp at Chaten in Sikkim's Lachen district on Sunday evening.
According to officials, a joint effort is being led by the Indian Army and a specialised disaster response team sent by the Centre.
On Tuesday morning, a V-5 helicopter landed at Pakyong Greenfield Airport with National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams equipped with satellite phones and essential rescue gear. Two MI-17 V5 helicopters successfully airlifted 34 individuals from Chaten where the mission began earlier on Tuesday, including injured army personnel, their families, and tourists.
The first sortie carried 23 NDRF personnel from Pakyong to Chaten, delivering critical supplies and establishing temporary communication lines in the severely cut-off region.
Roughly 1,500 tourists stranded in Lachung were brought back via Phidang on Monday using private vehicles. However, fresh landslides on Sunday night made ground rescue efforts impossible, prompting authorities to begin air evacuation operations after consulting the Ministry of Home Affairs.
As of Tuesday morning, 113 tourists remain stranded in Lachen, 40 in the Chaten army camp, and seven in the Jima area.
'Authorities have successfully established a pedestrian route between Lachen and Chaten, allowing limited ground movement of tourists. However, air rescue operations, which brought 34 people to Pakyong this morning, had to be suspended due to worsening weather. They will resume once conditions improve,' said a Sikkim administrative official.
In a separate development, Sikkim Governor Om Prakash Mathur inspected the Indreni Bridge at Singtam amid rising water levels. He spoke with local officials and residents, urging caution and instructing departments to implement all necessary safety measures. Commissioner-cum-Secretary to the Governor Jitendra Singh Raje and other senior officials accompanied him.
Authorities are also exploring alternate foot routes and assessing helipad feasibility, depending on weather, to ensure aid reaches all affected communities promptly.
Meanwhile, the search continues for tourists missing in a May 29 road accident near Munshithang in North Sikkim, where a vehicle fell — for almost 1,000 feet — into the Teesta river. Adverse weather and high water levels have hampered efforts, but joint rescue operations have continued since the incident.
On Tuesday, a search team from the Tourism and Civil Aviation Department surveyed the area around the accident site. This was led by Joint Director (Adventure) Kazi Sherpa who was accompanied by Deputy Director Manoj Chettri, Tourist Officer Anup Subba, and Information Assistant Sonam Pintso Bhutia. They were joined by officials from the district tourism office in Mangan and the IHCAE team.
The search operation is being conducted in coordination with the local administration, police (led by SDM and SDPO Chungthang), Fire and Emergency Services, Forest Department, TAAS, and other stakeholders. Family members of the missing tourists were also present at the site for firsthand updates.
Simultaneously, NDRF teams conducted an extensive riverbed search. On June 1 and 2, NDRF and Tourism Department personnel scoured 3-4 km downstream. Also, an SDRF team led by ASI Dawa Sherpa has been searching along the river belts of Toong, Ritchu Khola, Chungthang, and further downstream.
'The search operation continues under challenging conditions, and every effort is being made to locate the missing tourists,' stated a release from the District Information Office (DIO), Mangan District, North Sikkim.
Sweety Kumari reports from West Bengal for The Indian Express. She is a journalist with over a decade of experience in the media industry. Covers Crime, Defence, Health , Politics etc and writes on trending topics.
With a keen eye for investigative and human-interest stories. She has honed her craft across diverse beats including aviation, health, incidents etc. Sweety delivers impactful journalism that informs and engages audiences.
Sweety Kumari is a graduate of Calcutta University with an Honors degree in Journalism from Jaipuria College and a PG in Mass Communication from Jadavpur University. Originally from Bihar, she is brought up in Kolkata and completed her education from Kendriya Vidyalaya SaltLake. Multilingual, Sweety is fluent in English, Hindi, Bengali, and Maithili. She started her career as an Entertainment and lifestyle journalist with a newsportal in Kolkata. She is working with The Indian Express for 8 years now. ... Read More