Rescue teams are working to find dozens of missing people after flash floods struck a Himalayan village in northern India.
At least four people have been killed and buildings swept away after intense rains rushed down narrow mountains into Dharali, a mountain village in Uttarakhand state, on Tuesday.
Local official Prashant Arya said that around “a dozen hotels have been washed away and several shops have collapsed”.
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Conditions ‘extremely challenging’ – defence spokesperson
Four bodies have been recovered as of Wednesday, as army and disaster force teams were still searching for dozens believed to be trapped under rubble.
Dilip Singh, a disaster management official, said the “search for others is still under way” but added that adverse conditions, damaged roads and rough terrain were hampering rescue efforts.
Pushkar Singh Dhami, the chief minister of Uttarakhand state, told the ANI news agency that around 130 people were rescued by Tuesday night.
He added that army helicopters were on standby to provide supplies to those stranded.
Meanwhile, at least 11 Indian army soldiers were reported missing from a camp in nearby Harsil after the floods.
Defence spokesperson Lt Col Manish Srivastava said that the “conditions are extremely challenging, but our teams are staying put”.
Village ‘wiped out,’ says local politician
Lokendra Bisht, a local politician who runs a homestay in the area, told the Associated Press that the flood waters came so fast that “there was nothing anyone could do”.
He added: “The whole of Dharali village was wiped out.”
Geologist SP Sati also told the press agency that the village “sits on a ticking time bomb” and “is in a highly fragile zone”.
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Sudden and intense downpours – known as cloudbursts – have become increasingly common in Uttarakhand state.
The Himalayan region, in India’s far north, bordering Nepal and China, is already prone to flooding and landslides in the monsoon season.
Experts say cloudbursts have increased in recent years, partly due to climate change, while damage from the storms also has increased because of unplanned development in mountain regions.
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Dharali experienced similar flooding in 1864, in 2013 – when more than 6,000 people died across northern India after a cloudburst event – and in 2014.
