Search and rescue operation continued for the 13th day on Tuesday at a railways construction site in Manipur’s Noney district, where at least 52 people have been killed in a landslide, officials said.

“Till Monday, 52 bodies, mostly of Territorial Army soldiers were recovered, while no more body was unearthed on Tuesday,” a defence spokesman told NDTV.

The search operations by the Army, Territorial Army and the National and State Disaster Response Forces have been going on uninterruptedly since the catastrophic landslide on the intervening night of June 29 and 30 which buried alive a large number of people including some from the Territorial Army, Railway employees, workers and villagers.

Eighteen persons have been rescued and hospitalized, officials informed.

State Relief and Disaster Minister Awangbow Newmai, who visited the spot sixth time today said that a review meeting would be held after three days on the continuation of the search operation.

“The review meeting has been called on considering the hardship faced by the officials and volunteers who had been carrying out the search operation for 13 days without any break,” he said.

CommentsThe Territorial Army soldiers were deployed at Tupul for security to the railway works, part of the ₹ 14,320 crore broad gauge Jiribam-Imphal railway project, being executed by the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR), to connect the Manipur capital to the rail network by 2024.