Nine people have died, 20-25 people are feared buried under debris in a major landslide in the Boiuleauganj area of Shimla town.

5 bodies have been recovered from the debris, including those of two children and a woman.

The mishap occurred at about 7-7:30 am on Monday morning. It is believed that due to the ongoing month of ‘savan’, many worshippers are believed to have thronged the shiv mandir to pay obeisance on Monday morning. The temple itself got buried under the debris.

Himachal Pradesh Chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu reached the site and supervised the rescue operations.

The administration authorities claim to have received a phone call about some people being trapped in one of the rooms of the temple which came under the debris. Search for survivors is on with the help of ITBP and SDRF, besides district authorities.

“I have been going to this temple since my childhood, when we reached here to see what has happened, the temple had vanished,” an anxious onlooker said.

Meanwhile, tall deodar trees fell down in the Khalini area with people running for their lives, while many vehicles got crushed under the deodat trees.

At least 21 people were killed in separate incidents amid heavy rainfall in Himachal Pradesh.

In Solan, 7 people have lost their lives in a cloudburst at Jadon village.

Buses on 3500 routes of HRTC have been called off. Landslides have blocked several roads, including the Shimla-Chandigarh road, Chandigarh-Manali highway, Shimla-Dharamshala highway, and Paonta-Shilai NH.

Mandi district has been receiving heavy rainfall for the past 3 days. The entire Ner chowk area in Mandi district is submerged in water. “These three days of rain have been worse than the earlier downpour. There is no TV connectivity, electricity and water supply, ” said a Mandi resident, while speaking on phone with The Statesman.  Orange alert has been sounded in Hamirpur and Bilaspur.

Incessant rain for the last 24-48 hours has turned life topsy turvy in many parts of Himachal Pradesh.

The Himachal Pradesh Government announced on Sunday that all ongoing examinations for postgraduate classes scheduled for August 14 had been canceled due to the continuous rain. On August 14, all public, private, and colleges will be closed.

All rivers are flowing in full spate in Himachal Pradesh.