Kohima: A 38-year-old man drowned after a flash flood hit Ukha village in Mon district on Tuesday. Heavy rain triggered the surge around 12:30 p.m. Lhangti Kongko was working in his terraced paddy field with his family when the water struck. He could not escape the current. The floodwaters dragged him away despite frantic rescue attempts by his wife and others at the scene.
Mopong Hongkong Students Union president Y. Lhamnyei said the disaster also wrecked a large stretch of agricultural land. The community scrambled to respond. Villagers from Ukha, the Ukha Village Guards, and volunteers from Yangching village in Longleng district launched a massive search operation. After three and a half hours, rescuers pulled the body from the Phangsha River. Lhamnyei noted that the Village Guards and relatives entered the swollen river without safety gear to find him. "Despite desperate attempts by family members and others working nearby to rescue him, he could not be saved," Lhamnyei said.
The Extra Assistant Commissioner of Mopong visited the site to inspect the wreckage. Farmers now face heavy losses from the ruined fields. Kongko leaves behind a wife and three young children. He was buried at Ukha village that same evening.
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