 "Sikkim landslides: 1,000 tourists stuck in high-altitude hill stations; 1,500 rescued")
Around 1,000 tourists were reported to be stuck in two high-altitude hill stations in north Sikkim following landslides that hit the region on Thursday (April 24). A senior police officer said Friday that some 1,500 other tourists were being accommodated in nearby villages until road connectivity is restored.
Mangan superintendent of police (SP) Sonam Detchu Bhutia said the 1,500 tourists were rescued Friday, with some of them spending the night in places like police station, gurudwara, Indo-Tibetan Border Police camp.
“They were taken out on Friday morning and have already left for Gangtok,” Bhutia was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.
Heavy rainfall since Thursday afternoon has triggered major landslides in north Sikkim, damaging roads near Munshithang (on the way to Lachen) and near Lima (on the way to Lachung), officials confirmed.
Tourists currently in Lachen and Lachung remain stranded, and all travel permits for north Sikkim for Friday — including pre-issued ones — have been cancelled. Tour operators have been directed not to send any visitors to the region until conditions improve.
This is a serious setback for Lachen, which only reopened to tourists in March 2025 after being cut off for over a year due to the devastating glacial lake outburst flood in October 2023.
News agency PTI reported that while roads to Lachen and Lachung remained closed due to mudslides caused by heavy rainfall last evening, efforts were on to clear the routes as fast as possible.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsSikkim Governor Om Prakash Mathur said that all tourists are safe in various destinations in north Sikkim after getting stranded due to landslides.
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