"We Took Documents, A Few Clothes And Ran": Witnesses On Darjeeling Horror

Residents in West Bengal's Darjeeling narrated the horror they lived through in the pitch black night at 2.30 am when a key bridge in the area collapsed. A local told NDTV the bridge took along two houses as it came crashing down into the river.

Residents said the water level rose so fast that they did not have enough time to mentally process the situation, and head toward safety.

"All of us had been watching the intensity of rain increase and so we decided to leave if something happened," the local resident told NDTV, and looked at the collapsed bridge in the distance.

"It was around 2.30 am when we heard a loud noise. After that we picked up all our important documents, a few clothes and ran for safety," he said.

The man pointed at the riverbank, where two houses stood before they collapsed at the same time as the bridge, killing their occupants.

The tragedy in Darjeeling was triggered by heavy overnight rain. Dudhia iron bridge, which broke apart, connected Mirik and Kurseong.

Twenty people were killed in separate incidents linked to landslides and the bridge collapse, North Bengal Development Minister Udayan Guha told news agency PTI.

Residents told NDTV the side where they live is a valley, while Mirik, which was connected by the bridge before it collapsed, is a hill area.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was deeply pained by the loss of lives in Darjeeling.

"The situation in Darjeeling and surrounding areas is being closely monitored in the wake of heavy rains and landslides. We are committed to providing all possible assistance to those affected," he said earlier today.

The landslides have disrupted connectivity on several routes, including key rural link roads, hampering access to relief operations. Some villages have been cut-off.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has deployed multiple teams in rain-battered Mirik town of Darjeeling subdivision.