The number of Assam residents killed in the landslide in Manipur's Noney district last month has reached 15 with recovery of two more bodies, an official said on Tuesday.
Another six people from Assam are still missing, he said. Bodies of two persons from Morigaon district, who were engaged as labourers at the Tupul railway yard construction site when the landslide occurred, were retrieved from under the debris on Monday, he said.
"The bodies are in a decomposed condition, and the Manipur government is yet to decide whether these will be sent here or not," the official said. Four more persons from the district are still missing with multiple agencies continuing the search operation at the site, he said.
Read | Who is responsible for the Manipur landslide?
According to a Manipur government official, the toll in the landslide at the railway construction site rose to 53 as three more bodies were found on Monday, and two of the three bodies were of labourers from Assam.
The Assam government had compiled a list of 26 people from the State, who were engaged at the Tupul railway yard construction site when the landslide occurred on June 30.
Of them, 21 from Morigaon were there, the district administration had said.
The body of a railway engineer from Assam was cremated at his native village on July 11.
Of the 15 Assam residents who lost their lives in the landslide, 12 labourers were from Morigaon, while the engineer was from Dhubri. A Territorial Army jawan from Bajali and another person from Nalbari were also among the deceased from the State.
Five persons from Assam were rescued alive and have returned to their homes in Morigaon.
The massive landslide hit the railway construction site on the night of June 30.
Construction was underway in the area for the 110-km Jiribam -Imphal line under a project to connect the capitals of all northeastern States to the country's railway network.
