Chowkidar died while saving people

Darjeeling : A 55-year-old chowkidar was struck down by landslide this morning, but not before he managed to save half a dozen lives from the debris that came tumbling down the hill.

Triggered by heavy overnight rain (167.30mm), rocks and mud had come sliding down to the road at Nalman Gaon in Lebong around 7.30am. Seikh Ahmed, a resident of the area, 7km from here, started alerting people when boulders followed the small rocks.

He managed to keep away two schoolchildren from the spot. Ahmed also waved frantically at a jeep, which was coming down the road.

Dhan Kumar Bhujel, the driver of the vehicle, was not sure what was happening and had slowed down. The next moment the jeep was swept off the road and would have fallen into the gorge had it not been for the house of one Loben Sherpa.

The jeep stood sandwiched between the debris and the house. The passengers of the vehicle — Mani Thapa, Sapnam Thapa and Roshan Tamang — escaped with minor injuries.

“We received a new lease of life because of this man (Ahmed). Had he bothered about his own safety, we probably would not have lived,” said the visibly shaken driver.

According to Bhujel, Ahmed died from the impact of the falling debris.

Ahmed’s one-storied wooden house too was covered with debris but his wife Saifal Begum has survived with minor injuries.

Four more persons from the area were injured.

Army personnel posted at Lebong Cantonment along with civil defence and fire brigade workers carried out the rescue operations.

Another landslide along Lebong Cart Road, 2km ahead of Nalman Gaon, had blocked the route and rescuers had to wade through the debris to reach the mishap site. The road was cleared later in the day with two excavators.

Nine houses have been partially damaged at Nalman Gaon and two more at Batasia, on the southern fringes of the town. One house was affected at Bhutia Busty below Chowrastha. Cracks have also appeared on a house in Takdha, 30km from here, while two houses were affected at Sukhipokhri, 23km away.

Debris also covered the toy train tracks in three places between Darjeeling and Ghoom, following which the services were suspended for today. National Highway 55 was also blocked at Paglajhora near Kurseong.

Source: The Telegraph