Manikaran (HP): At least ten persons were killed&nbsp;and many others injured when a building adjoining the historic&nbsp;Manikaran Sahib Gurdwara caved in due to a massive landslide&nbsp;on Tuesday afternoon.
Kullu Deputy Commissioner Rakesh Kanwar confirmed that&nbsp;eight bodies which were buried under huge boulders have been&nbsp;extricated while search is on for more.
Eyewitnesses claimed that the dead could be more than ten&nbsp;in number as a large number of people had taken shelter in the&nbsp;building, close to the Gurdwara, when the tragedy struck.
<img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/2015/aug/LANDSLIDE-SIKHs_.jpg" alt="Gurdwara Manikaran Sahib" />The damaged building of the famous Sikh shrine Gurdwara Manikaran Sahib is pictured at Manikaran, in the Kullu District of northern Himachal Pradesh state on Tuesday. Pic/AFP
The exact number of dead or injured could not be&nbsp;ascertained as some bodies are feared to be buried under the&nbsp;debris.&nbsp;
The district administration has sought the assistance of&nbsp;Gurdwara authorities in locating and identifying the bodies as&nbsp;most people staying in the building were outsiders.&nbsp;
People ran helter-skelter as boulders fell on the&nbsp;building and many were trapped as a huge portion of the three-storey building virtually collapsed.
The locals and Gurdwara management immediately swung into&nbsp;action and started rescue operations while Additional District&nbsp;Magistrate, Sub Divisional Magistrate, Kullu and other&nbsp;district officials rushed to the spot.&nbsp;Those injured have been admitted to zonal hospital at&nbsp;Kullu and condition of seven of them is stated to be serious.
DGP Sanjay Kumar said some of the ten injured and were in&nbsp;a critical condition.
"We have deputed police force led by the district SP.&nbsp;They are engaged in swift rescue operation", he said.
"The boulder, which slipped from a top of the mountain,&nbsp;has smashed a rear portion of the Gurudawara damaging a few&nbsp;floors," he said.
DC Kullu Rakesh Kanwar said those who had minor injuries&nbsp;were treated on the spot and their condition was fine and&nbsp;added that the exact number of dead would be known after&nbsp;verification.
The DC said the building was an encroachment and would be&nbsp;evacuated soon.
"It has be evacuated and not to be occupied in the coming&nbsp;days, so that its structural strength and other things are&nbsp;checked before it is exposed to other use. Maybe it will be&nbsp;dismantled altogether but that is a call that has be taken&nbsp;later," Kanwar said.
"The building is a total encroachment. It is not an&nbsp;authorised, legal structure and we have already issued notices&nbsp;to forest authorities, to take action against them, so it is a&nbsp;violation," the DC further said.
Superintendent of Police (SP) Kullu, Surinder Verma said&nbsp;the entire area has been cordoned off fearing more rock falls.&nbsp;
Meanwhile, a team of ITBP personnel from the force's 2nd battalion based in Kullu district has been rushed to the spot. "The team has about 30 mountain-trained personnel including a doctor. They will assist locals and the administration in relief and rescue operations at the landslide spot," a senior Indo-Tibetan Border Police official said.&nbsp;

At least 10 people were killed and many were feared to be trapped under debris after a major landslide triggered giant boulders to fall onto the Gurdwara Manikaran Sahib in Kullu, Himachal Pradesh&nbsp;

10 dead, many trapped as landslide hits Gurdwara Manikaran Sahib in Himachal 

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At least 10 people were killed and many were feared to be trapped under debris after a major landslide triggered giant boulders to fall onto the Gurdwara Manikaran Sahib in Kullu, Himachal Pradesh&nbsp;

10 dead, many trapped as landslide hits Gurdwara Manikaran Sahib in Himachal

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Home / News / India News / Article / 10 dead, many trapped as landslide hits Gurdwara Manikaran Sahib in Himachal

10 dead, many trapped as landslide hits Gurdwara Manikaran Sahib in Himachal

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