A dog’s frantic barking in the middle of the night saved the lives of over 60 people in a remote Himalayan village before a massive landslide destroyed their homes on June 30, 2025.

 

Residents of Siyathi village in Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi district shared that their five-month-old dog began barking around 1am as heavy rainfall triggered a slope collapse that swept away at least a dozen houses.

 

“I woke up from the barking,” a villager named Narendra told an Indian media outlet. “As I went to him, I saw a big crack in the wall of the house, and water had started to enter. I ran downstairs with the dog and woke everyone up.”

 

Narendra ran door to door alerting neighbours, giving them just enough time to escape before their homes were buried under mud and debris. The landslide levelled the area, leaving only a few houses standing.

 

Villagers credited the dog, who was adopted just weeks ago, for warning them in time to flee to safety. The 67 people, belonging to about 20 families, are now staying at the Naina Devi temple, according to local reports. The Himachal Pradesh government has given each household ₹10,000 (£100) in immediate relief.

 

This tragedy is part of the widespread destruction caused by the intense monsoon across the region. Since June 20, at least 78 people have died in Himachal Pradesh in rain-related incidents such as cloudbursts, flash floods and landslides, according to the state disaster management authority. 

 

Mandi is among the worst-hit districts, recording 19 cloudbursts and 16 landslides in just over two weeks. More than 150 roads remain blocked and hundreds of homes have been damaged or destroyed.