Uttarkhand cloudburst: 14 bodies recovered from debris, 39 feared dead

TIL Desk/World/Dehradun-At least 14 bodies have been recovered so far from the debris in villages which were affected with cloud burst and landslides in Uttarakhand, police said on Saturday. As many as 39 people are feared dead, as heavy rains lashed Pithoragarh and Chamoli districts of Uttarakhand. However toll has touched 12 while 18 person remain missing in the area.

Officials fear that the toll may rise as several can be still trapped in the debris. The natural calamity has inflicted maximum damage on the Basted village, where at least 30 people are feared to be still trapped inside the debris. Reports suggest that as many as 60 houses were flattened in the incessant rainfall and villagers have lost over 200 cattle in the resulting floods.

A senior official of the disaster management team said the rescue operations were hampered due to inclement weather. Several teams of the State Disaster Response Force, para-military forces and Army rescue teams were stranded on way to the disaster-struck areas. All means of communication in the area have also collapsed.