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Landslips , cloudbursts kill 28 in Uttarakhand
Rains have unleashed fury in the hills. At least 28 people including two army officers were killed in cloudbursts in the state of Uttarakhand.
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People look at a collapsed road and the flooded river in Uttarakhand in June 2013. (AFP/file)
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t least 28 people are feared dead in landslides triggered by cloudbursts in Pithoragarh district in Uttarakhand . The incident took place in the wee hours of Monday at Mangti Nala and Malpa. The landslip smothered an army base camp at Mangti Nala killing two Junior Commission Officers (JCOs) and five jawans.
The rescue teams of the Kumaon Squad, ITBP, SSB, NDRF and SDRF were delayed because of the extensive damage. According to reports, at least 14 people including 2 JCOs, 5 Jawans and 7 porters were killed in the landslide near Mangti Nala. But the Uttarakhand government officially claimed that one person had died and eight were missing at Mangti Nalla. Information gleaned from local people, via mobile phone operating on Nepali SIM cards, however, put the toll at 14 at Mangti and 14 at Malpa.
The state remained tight lipped on the number of deaths at Malpa. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, who flew to the rain-hit areas on Monday with finance minister Prakash Pant, said there was "no clarity on the number of deaths at Malpa.”
The Sinkhola bridge was washed away disrupting the Kailesh Mansarovar Yatra. D.K Sharma, Officer on Special Duty (Tourism) of Kumoan Mandal Vikas Nigam, said, “We are looking at an alternative route. Our pilgrims on the Indian and Chinese sides are safe.” Two batches of Mansarovar pilgrims on the Indian side could proceed to the Chinese side, he said.
This article appeared on The Statesman newspaper website, which is a member of Asia News Network and a media partner of The Jakarta Post
