Arunachal Rain Fury: Five Army Personnel Missing, Four Dead in Twin Landslides and Flash Floods

The mountain gave way in two places. On Friday evening, heavy rain triggered a flash flood in Arunachal Pradesh's Dibang Valley, sweeping away two shelters at an Army camp and carrying seven personnel with it. Two were rescued. Five are still missing.

Hours later, in another part of the state, a landslide buried labourers at a road construction site in Upper Subansiri district. Four people were reported dead. One body has been recovered so far, while the others remain beneath the debris as search and recovery operations continue. Two disasters. Two districts. One night of relentless rain. And rescue teams working against unstable ground, difficult weather and time. Seven soldiers swept away

The flash flood struck the Pasu Pani Army Camp of the 5th Grenadier in Dibang Valley on Friday evening. Heavy rainfall sent floodwaters through the camp, washing away two shelters and sweeping away seven Army personnel, according to officials. Two were rescued. Five remain missing. They have been identified as Havaldar Upendar and Army personnel Kundan, Vinod, Aditya and Samunda.

The Army has deployed two search-and-rescue teams from the 5th Grenadier. Additional personnel from the ITBP's 58th Battalion, the 62 RCC of the General Reserve Engineer Force, Arunachal Pradesh Police and local volunteers have also been mobilised.

An SDRF team from Pasighat is being sent towards Anini to reinforce the operation. Earlier information from the Defence PRO in Tezpur said rescue teams had been rushed from neighbouring posts and Army aviation assets were being used to augment the operation and facilitate medical evacuation.

Five people are still unaccounted for. Then the mountain collapsed again. In Upper Subansiri, the disaster took a different form. A major landslide struck the Keojaring-Byaching PMGSY road-cutting site near Nacho, burying several labourers under the debris. Four people were reported dead.

Personnel from Nacho Police Station have been deployed for the search and recovery operation. Fire and Emergency Services personnel are being mobilised from Daporijo, while an SDRF team is also joining the effort.

The confirmed numbers are stark: four dead and five Army personnel missing. But the operations are not over. In Dibang Valley, rescuers are searching for five missing personnel after the flood swept through the Army camp. In Upper Subansiri, teams are working through the debris to recover the three people still trapped there.

The terrain is difficult. The weather is difficult. And every hour matters. For now, there is no neat ending to this story. Only search teams moving through mud and wreckage. Only families waiting for a phone call. Only rescuers hoping that somewhere beneath the debris, someone can still be found. In Arunachal Pradesh, the rain has stopped the roads. The landslides have torn through camps and worksites. But the search is still going on.

(With inputs from ANI)