In a heartrending incident, two sisters who were found holding their hands were killed after they were trapped in their house following a landslide in Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka, police officials said on Tuesday. Shruti, 11 and Jnanashree, 6, daughters of Kusumadhar in Subramanya in Dakshina Kannada were trapped after a landslide caused the collapse of their house. After a lengthy search operation by emergency personnel, the bodies of the sisters were found with the two of them holding their hands together, police officials said.
After heavy rains lashed Subramanya on Monday evening, the residents of the household heard a loud noise around 7 pm. Shruthi, who was reading a book in the portico of the house, ran inside thinking the sound must have come from there. Jnanashree also ran inside the house. At the same time, the hill collapsed on their home. The children's mother, who was busy in the kitchen, came outside the house, thinking that the children must be outside. As a tree fell on the way and water was overflowing, rescue personnel could not reach the spot immediately. The rain also hampered the operation, police officials said.
In another incident in Muttalli in Bhatkal taluk of Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka, four members of a family were killed after a portion of a hill collapsed on their house, police officials said. The victims were identified as Laxminarayana Naika (60), Laxmi Naika (45), Anantha Narayana Naika (38) and relative Praveen Balakrishna Naika (16). Their bodies are yet to be recovered.
An orange alert has been issued in seven districts in southern Karnataka namely Dakshina Kannada, Kodagu, Hassan, Shivamogga, Chikmagalur, Uttara Kannada and Udupi.