Uttarakhand cloudburst casualties reach 12, two more bodies recovered, two are missing

Authorities say there is little hope of finding the two remaining missing people alive

The rescue teams carrying out search operations in Uttarakhand’s Pithoragarh district after the cloudburst in Munsiyari area on Sunday night have retrieved two more bodies from the muck on Thursday, taking the death toll to 12, said officials. Two people are still missing.

The rescue team carrying out search operation in Munsiyari area of Pithoragarh after the cloud burst incident on Sunday night. (HT Photo)

The recovered bodies are of women, aged 45 and 25. All deceased were trapped in muck which entered their house in Tanga village following a cloudburst on Sunday night, said officials.

Ram Dutt Paliwal, additional district magistrate (ADM) Pithoragarh, said the two women whose bodies have been retrieved from the muck have been identified as Padma Devi, 45 and Kusma Devi, 25.

Paliwal said so far 12 bodies have been retrieved and search operation was on to find the remaining two people, feared dead in the muck.

Rescue teams are also deploying a dog squad to find the remaining missing people.

According to district administration officials, around 88 personnel including 19 from Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), 10 from SDRF, 29 from NDRF and as many from local police and revenue office have been engaged in the search operation.

On Wednesday, the rescue teams had retrieved three bodies from the muck, including two children and one elderly man.

Meanwhile, over 50 families from Dhapa village in Pithoragarh district’s Munsiyari region were evacuated and shifted to safer places on Thursday after a big ditch was witnessed in the village after the cloudburst incident.