MP rain: 1 killed in house collapse, 60 rescued by IAF chopper

Bhopal:

A 35-year-old woman was killed and three others were injured when a house collapsed after heavy rains at Sehore in Madhya Pradesh on Sunday, while nearly 60 stranded people were airlifted from a village in the district by an IAF helicopter, officials said. Following heavy showers in several parts of Madhya Pradesh in the last couple of days, nearly 7,000 people have so far been rescued across the state and 170 relief camps are set up in the affected districts, said Manish Rastogi, the principal secretary to Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

Water level of the Narmada river, which flows across various districts of the state, has not risen further on Sunday, he said. In the last two days, heavy rains pounded nine districts of the state, including Hoshangabad, Sehore, Chhindwara and Narsinghpur, leading to a rise in the level of the Narmada river at some places.

A house in Ashta area of Sehore district collapsed around 3.10 am on Sunday, killing a woman, identified as Ruksar Bi, a police official said. Three others who were trapped under the debris of the collapsed house were later pulled out and admitted to a hospital, he said.

An Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopter rescued 60 people from a village in the district, Rastogi said. Three IAF helicopters have been pressed in evacuation works, he said, adding that one more chopper would join in the rescue operation shortly.

An Army column comprising 70 personnel is deployed in Hoshangabad and five more columns of the defence force are going to join in, said Rastogi, who is also the state’s revenue commissioner..