AIZAWL: A 12-year-old boy and a one-month-old baby belonging to the internally displaced people from Manipur taking refuge at a village in north Mizoram’s Kolasib district have died of illnesses on Monday, an official said.
The boy has been taking refuge at a relief camp with his family and the infant with her mother was staying in their relative’s home at Saiphai village on the Mizoram-Assam border for a month after the ethnic violence broke out in Manipur on May 3, he said.
The boy died of pneumonia and the infant of fever, he said.
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In another incident, two persons aged 57 and 23, from Manipur have died in a road accident in Saitual district on Sunday, police said.
The two victims, who hailed from Lamka or Churachandpur town, one of the epic centres of the ethnic violence, met with an accident while fleeing to Mizoram with three other members, they said.
The vehicle they were travelling in skidded off the road and fell into a gorge near Saitual town on Sunday.
Last month, a woman, who took shelter at Vairengte village in Kolasib district near Assam border, had also died of abdominal pain and her body was sent to her native village in Manipur.
Meanwhile, Saiphai village council vice president Lalthlirlien Hmar, who is also a member of a village level relief committee, informed that the 12-year-old boy identified as Lalthalien had a complaint of illness for a few days and was looked after by a health worker in the village.
He said that the boy’s body was sent to his native village Savawmphai in south Manipur’s Pherzawl district on Monday.
Hmar also said that the infant girl was born at a health sub-centre soon after they fled to Saiphai village and has been living at their relative’s home with her mother since then.
He said that they have informed the district administration to conduct a general health check-up in the village relief camp at the earliest.
According to Hmar, a total of 136 people, mostly women, children and old persons, have taken shelter in Saiphai village after the ethnic violence.
He said that the village relief committee was providing food to the displaced people with the help of donations from NGOs, churches, villagers and other individuals.
He added that they are on the verge of a food crisis as the state government is yet to provide it.
Earlier, state home commissioner and secretary H. Lalengmawia had said that they had sought monetary assistance to the tune of Rs. 5 crore as immediate relief for the displaced people from the Centre.
The state disaster management and rehabilitation department will also sanction money for relief, he had said.
According to the state home department, a total of 8,878 people from Manipur have fled to Mizoram and taken shelter in 10 districts of the state.
Majority of the displaced people stay in temporary relief camps, while others are given shelter by their relatives, it said.