They came from Bihar looking for work. They never made it back home.
Two migrant labourers — Bipin Kumar, 33, and Rahul Kumar, 26 — were killed on Tuesday afternoon when a massive landslide crashed into a construction site in Arunachal Pradesh’s Lohit district. Four of their colleagues were buried under the debris and had to be pulled out by rescue teams. One of them is fighting for his life.
The Ground Gave Way at 12:45 PM
It happened without warning. At around 12:45 PM on July 8, relentless rain finally broke the hillside at Lohitpur in Lohit district. Tonnes of earth and rock came sliding down onto the worksite in seconds. The men working there had nowhere to run. Superintendent of Police Thutan Jamba confirmed the details, and rescue operations were launched immediately after the incident was reported. Teams worked through the muddy debris to pull out the four surviving workers who had been trapped beneath.
One Still Critical, Others Unknown
Of the four rescued, at least one sustained serious injuries and is currently under treatment at Lohit Zonal General Hospital. The condition of the remaining three injured workers was not immediately known at the time of reporting. A case of unnatural death has since been registered at Tezu Police Station, and the investigation is underway. It’s a legal formality, yes — but behind it are two families in Bihar who are now waiting for news that will shatter them.
A Pattern That Keeps Repeating
This tragedy didn’t come from nowhere. Arunachal Pradesh has been battered by persistent heavy rainfall for weeks now, with landslides and floods disrupting life across multiple districts. Thousands have been affected. Roads have been cut off. And construction sites — especially those built into steep, rain-soaked hillsides — have been sitting on borrowed time. The question that lingers is not just about this one incident, but about why migrant workers at such high-risk sites are so often the most vulnerable when nature turns hostile.
Far From Home, Far From Safe
Bipin Kumar and Rahul Kumar were not just workers — they were someone’s sons, someone’s breadwinners. They had travelled hundreds of kilometres from Bihar to build roads and structures in a remote corner of the Northeast, doing the kind of hard, dangerous labour that most people don’t want to think about. The fact that their deaths require a “case of unnatural death” to even be formally acknowledged says something quiet and uncomfortable about how migrant lives are valued in this country.
The rains haven’t stopped. The hills are still unstable. And somewhere in Bihar, two families are about to receive the worst news of their lives.
— Naitik
Abotani TV
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