Himachal landslide: New video shows the only two survivors taking stock of tragedy

In a shocking video that was dropped on Tuesday on YouTube, one of the only two survivors of the horrific Himachal landslide in the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, that killed nine and injured several others, is seen talking about the aftermath.

The disturbing five-minute-long video was taken by a mobile phone and shows two men, badly injured, bleeding and panting and trying to make sense of the tragic accident in Himachal Pradesh’s Kinnaur district two days ago.

One of the two men, identified by only his first name, Naveen, is seen bleeding from his head as blood covers his face while describing what he saw. “Just 10 minutes ago our car was standing there (pointing towards the hilly road where the rockslide hit) when rocks fell on it and it toppled over.” He continued, speaking into the mobile phone camera: “I was in the passenger seat. Somehow I managed to get out. I was hit on my head and am bleeding, but don’t know how serious it is.”

The veracity of the video could not be confirmed. NDTV, which ran the video on its website, also said that they couldn’t verify whether the video, posted on the YouTube channel titled ‘Wave Hikers’ was real.

In the video, Mr Naveen pans the phone towards the section of the road where he says his car was parked. He says: “I managed to take shelter behind a tree while some more rocks rushed past.” “My friend is down there with two others, one is a woman,” he adds.

He also says that he tried to call the police but couldn’t connect.

He shouts, addressing some people who can’t be seen on the camera: “Move away, more rocks are falling.”

Within a second, some rocks come down hurtling the mountain, kicking up dust along.

Another man, who NDTV claimed to be the second survivor, is seen climbing down the hill, having lost one shoe and with a blood-soaked handkerchief. The man identifies himself as Shiril Oberoi and says that the body of a woman is lying further down on the road.

The video also shows debris from the cars that were hit by the rocks.

The Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, and Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jairam Thakur announced an ex gratia relief of about £1900 for the families of those who died, and around £480 for those injured.

Meanwhile, Mr Naveen finally was able to talk to the police. He wrote in the video description: “I told them about the situation, my approx [sic] location and the number of missing persons.” He mentions that the nearby connected city of Sangla was 8 km from that location. He says that the police reached there with the rescue teams and doctors.

One anonymous commentator on social media said: “To think that these people got caught unawares by these rockslides suddenly is really very sad and distressing. Also to see these two men who had managed to survive even though with his head badly injured but admire him for having had the presence of taking this video to recollect what actually happened.”