Himachal Pradesh landslide: Siblings who moved to rear seat of bus to play survive; 16 killed | Shimla News
KULLU: Sheer luck and a few bars of metal saved two children in a landslide that hit a passenger bus killing 16 passengers in Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh, Tuesday evening.Aarushi (10) and Shaurya (8) had moved to the half-empty bus’s rear seat to play just minutes before the hillside came crashing down. An 80m stretch of vertical land mass struck the front portion of the bus first. Its impact hurled the siblings under the seats, shielding them from debris that crashed down a fraction of a second later.The brother and sister siblings are lone survivors of the tragedy. They lost their mother , aunt , and cousins in the landslide, which also claimed eight-year-old Rahul from Barsar, Hamirpur.“The debris did maximum damage to the front portion of the bus where most passengers were sitting,” said Hans Raj, a resident of Fagog village and ward member of Baloh panchayat where the tragedy happened. “The kids were found under two different seats. It’s nothing short of a miracle,” he added.Within minutes, a large crowd gathered, and locals started removing the debris. Soon, a JCB arrived. There were loud cheers as the kids were rescued.
