India: 10 killed and 82 others missing in lake burst

WORLD, Oct. 05 (YPA) – The death toll from the glacial lake burst that triggered a torrential flash floods has risen to at least 10 people, while 82 others are still missing, Government officials in India said on Thursday .

“Floodwaters have caused havoc in four districts of the state, sweeping away people, roads, bridges,” Himanshu Tiwari, an Indian Army spokesman told AFP on Thursday, speaking a day after the wall of water rushed down the mountainous valley in northeast Sikkim state.

Authorities said roads had been “severely” damaged and that 14 bridges had been washed away.

“Ten bodies have been recovered so far, and 82 people are missing, including army personnel,” Sikkim state chief secretary Vijay Bhushan Pathak told reporters late Wednesday.

Among the missing are 22 soldiers, the army said. One previously missing soldier was rescued.

The water surge came after intense rainfall burst the high-altitude Lhonak Lake, which sits at the base of a glacier in peaks surrounding the world’s third-highest mountain, Kangchenjunga.

E.M