The death toll in the flash flood in north eastern Indian state of Sikkim has mounted to 14 while 102 others, including 22 army personnel, remained missing, officials said today.
So far, 2,011 people have been rescued, while the calamity triggered by a cloudburst over a glacier-fed lake in the Teesta river basin affected 22,034 people, the Sikkim State Disaster Management Authority said in its latest bulletin.
The cloud burst in South Lhonak lake in North Sikkim also resulted in the breach of the Chungthang dam, which is the largest hydropower project in the state.
More than 3,000 tourists from various parts of India are stranded in Sikkim following the disaster, Sikkim Chief Secretary V B Pathak said.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh described the calamity as "deeply heart-wrenching" and said relief and rescue operations in the area are in progress amidst extremely bad weather.
Intense rainfall has caused extensive damage, with over 150 houses in the industrial belt at Rangpo, located along the banks of the river Teesta, being affected.
A stretch of the national highway, which connects Sikkim capital town Gangtok to Siliguri in neighbouring West Bengal, has also been affected.
