Sikkim flash flood: 122 people still missing, 32 bodies recovered
So far, 2,563 people have been rescued from different areas and 6,875 people have taken shelter in 30 relief camps set up across the state
Officials on Sunday (October 8) reported the recovery of 32 bodies, including nine Army soldiers, from the slush and debris caused by the flash flood in the Teesta river, which wreaked havoc in Sikkim. The search efforts are ongoing for the more than 122 people who remain missing.
The flash flood, which was triggered by a cloudburst in the early hours of Wednesday, has affected 41,870 people.
Search was underway for 122 people who are still missing. Seventy-eight people are missing in Pakyong district, 23 in Gangtok district, 15 in Mangan and six in Namchi, it said.
Special radars, drones and Army dogs have been deployed for the search operations, officials said.
So far, 21 bodies have been recovered in Pakyong, six in Gangtok, four in Mangan and one in Namchi, they said.
Even as the search operations for the missing people continue, 56 people were rescued in North Sikkim’s Chungthang, one of the worst affected areas in the flash flood, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) said on Sunday.
Among those rescued were 52 men and four women, it said. “In another rescue operation, 56 civilians (52 males and 4 females) were successfully rescued via the ropeway made by the ITBP rescue team in Chungthang, North Sikkim,” the ITBP said in a Twitter post. The search for the 81 people who went missing in the flash flood continues. So far, 30 bodies have been found, officials said.
The flash flood triggered by a cloudburst in the early hours of Wednesday (October 4) affected 41,870 people in four districts of the Himalayan state, with Mangan bearing the brunt of the calamity as a population of around 30,000 was hit by the disaster, according to the Sikkim State Disaster Management Authority (SSDMA).
So far, 2,563 people have been rescued from different areas and 6,875 people have taken shelter in 30 relief camps set up across the state, most of which have been cut off from the rest of the country. The deluge also damaged more than 1,320 houses and washed away 13 bridges in the four districts of the picturesque Himalayan state.
More than 3,000 tourists stranded in Lachen and Lachung in Mangan district are safe, officials said.
(With agency inputs)
