Two teenage brothers died and their mother was injured after a landslide struck their rented house in Mokokchung's Upper Penli ward
MOKOKCHUNG — Two teenage brothers were killed and their mother injured after a landslide struck their rented house in the early hours of Wednesday at Upper Penli ward, above the Sangtam Baptist Church pastor's residence in Mokokchung town.
The Eastern Nagaland People's Union Mokokchung (ENPUM) identified the deceased as Muwalong Sangtam (19), a Class XII student, and Thridiba Sangtam (16), a Class XI student. Both were students of Queen Mary Higher Secondary School (QMHSS), Mokokchung, and sons of Merenba Sangtam of Alisopur village. Their mother sustained injuries and is undergoing treatment at Dr. Imkongliba Memorial District Hospital.
According to local residents, continuous rainfall since midnight triggered the landslide at around 12.40 am, severely damaging the rented house occupied by the family.
Also read: IAF concludes six-day Nagaland flood relief mission after evacuating 64 more stranded people
NSDMA directs all district relief operations through DDMAs
The mother and her two sons were trapped under the debris. The eldest son escaped unharmed, while the father was in the village in Tuensang district at the time of the incident.
Lanutemjen, Company Commander of Home Guards, Civil Defence and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Mokokchung, said that his team, led by SI Tingkam and comprising 23 SDRF personnel, was mobilised at 1.30 am and reached the site without delay.
Penli youth volunteers, along with police and SDRF personnel, joined the rescue operation. The mother was rescued at around 2 am after rescuers cut through a galvanised iron (GI) sheet under which she was trapped. Despite continuous efforts in persistent rain, the two brothers could not be rescued alive as they remained buried under mud and debris.
The district administration monitored the rescue operation. After several hours of strenuous manual excavation and debris removal under difficult conditions, the SDRF team, assisted by colony youth volunteers, recovered the bodies of the two brothers at around 5.30 am and handed them over to the police.
The bodies were taken to their native village for the last rites after a brief prayer service at the Sangtam Baptist Church compound. ENPUM expressed condolences to the bereaved family.