In Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir, rescuers have intensified operations to search for nearly 600 missing persons in Leh town ravaged by flash floods. Indo Tibetan Border Police has rescued 100 people from the debris of collapsed houses in the town. ITBP Spokesperson Deepak Pandey said that the forces have also retrieved 30 bodies yesterday. With this, the toll in the incident has risen to 132. State Police Chief Kuldeep Khoda said that at least 370 people have been injured. He said, the toll may go up as several remote villages are yet to be accessed by rescue teams. Thousans have been rendered homeless. AIR Leh Correspondent Yangchan Dolma reports that 20 houses were swept away in a flash flood at Hanuthang village, about 160 kilometers from Leh on Friday night. However, there is no report of any casualty so far. Six Indian Air Force aircraft carrying relief material, rescue workers and doctors landed at Leh yesterday to provide succour to the people of the region affected by Thursday night's cloudbursts. Air India yesterday operated three flights to Leh and brought back 325 passengers stranded there. Union Minister Farooq Abdullah reached the area yesterday morning from Kashmir. Later two of his cabinet colleagues — Ghulam Nabi Azad and Prithviraj Chavan — also reached Leh after making an earlier unsuccessful attempt to land.Home Secretary G K Pillai said in New Delhi that five to six civilian flights are likely to take off for Leh today to bring back people including foreign tourists stranded there.Leh Administration has set up a 24 hour Helpline to provide any information about the incident. The telephone numbers are 09906990787 and 09906990835.
News On AIR | August 8, 2010 9:38 AM
Rescue work intensifies to help cloudburst victims in Leh