Darjeeling: Three persons of the same family died in a landslide on Saturday morning in the Darjeeling Hills.
At around 4am a landslide occurred at Tamanggaon under the Rimbik Lhodama Gram Panchayat 1 area. The landslide buried a house. The dead bodies of Nima Tamang (30) his wife Chandra Tamang (27) and son Nihal Tamang (5) was dug out.
Sandhya Tamang (11) daughter of Nima Tamang miraculously escaped as she was at her grandparents house. With news of the landslide officials of the district administration rushed to the spot. "We have handed over Rs 16,000 to the family. Ex-gratia and other relief will follow. We will extend all necessary help to the affected family," said Kaushik Banerjee, BDO, Bijanbari. Anit Thapa, Chairman, Gorkhaland Territorial Administration also visited the spot. "The Chief Minister had called and has expressed condolences. She has announced Rs 2 lakhs each to the next of kin of the deceased. From the GTA we will be giving Rs 1 lakh," said Thapa.