Deep wounds, inflicted on family members of the victims of the Mandi landslide, will never be healed and the scary experience of looking for the bodies under debris with no hope of survival will haunt them through the life.Gyan Chand, a native of Jimjhim village, was waiting for his daughter Suruchi Thakur and son-in-law Prem Singh, who were travelling from Manali to Jogindernagar in the ill-fated HRTC bus (HP 63-5840) when the news of two buses buried under debris following a landslide broke.He rushed to the spot and with the help of locals succeeded in locating the body of his daughter but could not trace his son-in-law. The grief-stricken old man, holding his daughter’s body, was sitting on the spot with no hope of the survival of his son-in-law. Even on the second day, his son-in-law is still missing.With weeping eyes, Gyan Chand said, “This is the biggest tragedy in his family and the wounds of the incident could never be healed. I lost everything, my daughter and son-in-law,” he added. But this was not the lone case.Hell broke on Mala Devi, a resident of Chamba district, at present residing in Kullu, who lost her three children in the mishap. Her children Muskaan (12), Palak (8) and Armaan (4), accompanied by their aunt Geeta, had gone to meet their grandparents in Chamba and were returning to Kullu by bus.Mala, who was still recovering from the shock of death of her husband, who was killed in an accident three years ago, got another jolt when she was informed at Kullu bus stand about the tragedy.Mehar Chand, native of Chachoga village in Manali, lost his only son Pankaj in this incident. He was coming from Dharamsala to Manali.However, four girls, who were trapped in the bus, had a miraculous escape. According to girls, they got trapped under the iron angles of the bus. Anita dialled 100 number for help. The family of Pinku at Kotrupi had a narrow escape too. He came out of the house to attend nature’s call 10 minutes before the incident. He heard a thundering sound of landslide and rushed to his house to alert the family members. Pinku said as soon as they left the house, his four-storey building collapsed.
