Landslide death toll rises to 40

16 people are still missing from Kalimpong Block 1 and 2

School children are being transported by a bulldozer across a flooded road in Siligurion Friday.- Photo: AFP

With the recovery of two more bodies, the toll in the landslide-battered Darjeeling district has risen to 40.

Sixteen people are still missing from Kalimpong Block 1 and 2, an official of West Bengal’s Disaster Management Department said.

Rescue operations are under way in Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong sub-divisions, where multiple landslides washed away highways and damaged homes.

Darjeeling District Magistrate Anurag Srivastava said people are put up in camps and three such camps have been set up in Mirik where 200-250 families have been sheltered.

Rescue work

National Disaster Response Team, Civil Defence personnel and local volunteers have been engaged in the rescue work.

The Sashastra Seema Bal and the National Disaster Management Authority have also been pressed into service. — PTI