Sikkim: The rescue effort for the remaining missing Indian Army soldiers, who were swept in the gushing Teesta waters, continues without any success with teams mainly focusing the hunt on the downstream areas of the barrage.
Also read: Sikkim flash floods update: 17 bodies recovered from Teesta river in West Bengal's Jalpaiguri
At the site of incident at Burdang near Singtam, the army vehicles are being dug out and stores being recovered. Teams of Tiranga Mountain Rescue, tracker dogs and special radars have been brought in to assist the rescure operations.
Meanwhile, troops of TriShakti Corps of the Indian Army have been able to take account of 1,471 tourists present in Lachen/Chatten, Lachung and Chungthang. With the weather improving on Friday, there may be a window of opportunity for evacuation of stranded tourists by helicopters. The same is being planned jointly by the state government, Indian Army and Indian Air Force.
A survey is being carried out by all agencies to assess the damage and plan restoration of road connectivity. The road link between Singtam and Burdang has been restored with the clearing of a single lane for vehicular activities.
In the wake of the deadly flash floods caused by a cloudburst over Lhonak Lake in North Sikkim. On Thursday morning, 17 more bodies were recovered from the Teesta River in West Bengal taking the death toll in the tragedy to 31 in the two states. The 17 bodies were fished out after a massive search operation carried out by the Indian Army, NDRF, and police and local administration in Jalpaiguri.
Earlier, 14 bodies were found while 102 people, including 22 Army personnel, remained missing after the cloudburst over Lhonak Lake in North Sikkim triggered a flash flood in the Teesta river basin.
The Army is trying to identify the 17 bodies recovered in Jalpaiguri. Mortars and other weapons used by the army, and car parts were also recovered from Teesta River. Army, along with NDRF, Civil Defence and Police started a rescue operation from Teesta River. All the bodies are believed to have floated from Sikkim.
