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Death toll rises to 165 in Indian Himalayan floods
AFP - Tuesday, August 10
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Death toll rises to 165 in Indian Himalayan floods
LEH, India (AFP) - – The death toll from flash floods in India's remote Himalayan region of Ladakh reached 165 on Monday, with officials warning that hundreds of people were still missing.
Sudden rains before dawn on Friday caused floods that swept away roads, homes, bridges and power cables. Rescuers fear many more victims died after being buried in a tide of rock and mud.
Thousands of Indian soldiers, police and paramilitary troops have led the relief operation, trying to reach buried homes and treating the injured.
"The government today confirmed that 165 deaths have occurred in Leh so far due to the cloudburst and flashfloods, of which 150 bodies have been identified," an official statement said Monday evening.
Officials said more than 400 have been injured.
Many people are feared buried in the village of Choglamsar on the outskirts of Leh. Sniffer dogs were in action on Monday to locate bodies.
Some 140 foreign tourists stuck in the Zanskar valley were flown back to Leh by air force helicopters, army spokesman J.S. Brar told AFP in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir.
He said the remote Zanskar valley had been cut off by the floods.
"Our basic aim is to cater to the needs of injured and those who are displaced. We are doing our best," Brar said.
Nearly 200 other foreigners were stranded elsewhere in Ladakh but efforts were underway to get them back to Leh, where the airport has remained open.
Among those feared dead are 26 Indian soldiers stationed at a small army post on the de facto border with Pakistan, Lieutenant General S. K. Singh told the Press Trust of India news agency.
"Our total losses are 26 (men) and I think the bulk of them would be buried under the rubble," he said. "However, it cannot be ruled out that some of them could have been washed away."
Roads to Ladakh are blocked due to landslides, and officials said it would take at least one more week to restore the Srinagar-Leh route as the army engineers repair five bridges and stretches of damaged road.
The Manali-Leh highway is also blocked.
Telephone networks have been severely affected, while Leh has suffered major electrical supply problems.
Some shops opened for the first time since the "cloudburst" struck in the middle of the night. The Indian government has organised for 20,000 bottles of drinking water to be airlifted to the region.
Ladakh is a highly militarised area because of border disputes with both Pakistan and China. It is also renowned for its ancient Buddhist monasteries, and its mountains and rivers attract international adventure tourists.
The town of Leh, situated in an arid mountain desert at an altitude of 3,505 metres (11,500 feet), receives virtually no rainfall all year and has no planned drainage system.
The floods came as neighbouring Pakistan suffered the worst flooding in its history with 13.8 million people affected and at least 1,600 people killed.
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