Mother, son crushed to death in Vizag as boulders fall on house

Two people were killed after boulders fell down the slope of a hill, following heavy rain in Vizag. The incident reportedly took place at Ganapati Nagar in Gajuwaka.

On Sunday, around 9:30 PM, boulders from a nearby hill came rolling down and collapsed the asbestos roof of a house in the area. Trapped under the rubble, a twenty-four-year-old woman identified as Ramalakshmi and her three-year-old son Gnaneshwar were crushed to death. The two other family members- Ramalakshmi’s husband Loknadham and relative Parvathy survived the incident after suffering severe injuries. The neighbours revealed that Ramalakshmi was in the third trimester of pregnancy.

The Gajuwaka Police reached the spot and with the help of fire personnel and local residents retrieved the bodies of the deceased. The bodies were sent to the morgue for examination. The injured family members were moved to the hospital for treatment.

Vizag has been receiving heavy rainfall since Sunday and according to India Metrological Department (IMD), the rains are likely to intensify across the coast. Heavy rains often loosen the hill terrains, resulting in landslides. A similar incident took place in October 2019, near Kailasagiri which then resulted in a major disruption in the movement of traffic around the area. Clearing the boulders off the road, the concerned officials had their task cut out in imposing restrictions and diverting traffic through alternate routes. While some rocks were cleared off by JCBs, the larger ones had to be fractured into smaller fragments before getting rid of them. Clearing the boulders off the road, the concerned officials had their task cut out in imposing restrictions and diverting traffic through alternate routes. While some rocks were cleared off by JCBs, the larger ones had to be fractured into smaller fragments before getting rid of them. Though no casualties were reported it hinted at the dangers that the landslides can cause.