185 killed in flash flood of India-controlled Kashmir
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The rescue operations are underway in mountainous Ladakh area of India-controlled Kashmir that was hit by flash floods and mudslides triggered by sudden downpour and cloud burst last week, officials Friday said.
The death toll in the devastation rose to 185, including 13 Nepali workers and five Western tourists -- three French, one Spanish and one Italian. Around 500 people sustained injuries in the natural calamity.
Search for more than 400 missing including 30 Indian army troopers is in progress.
Indian Army has pressed in helicopters to carry out rescue work.
On Thursday, Army rescued two Austrian trekkers from a remote area on the request of Austrian embassy. The duo was admitted in military hospital Leh. Of the two, one is suffering from suspected spinal injury.
Tourism officials said around 2,000 foreign nationals were in Ladakh at the time it was hit. Ladakh, the famous tourist destination is a high-altitude desert perched about 3,500 meters above sea level in the Himalayas. The area usually receives low rainfall.
Until now army has rescued more than 200 holed up foreign tourists and flown them to safer locations. It had also thrown open military hospital Leh to treat injured, besides setting- up makeshift medical camps.
"We are putting in our efforts to rescue people including tourists and treat the injured not only inside army hospital Leh but also at makeshift medical camps that were set up at different places," said Lt. Col. J. S. Brar, the Indian army spokesman.
Several columns of Indian army are deployed in the affected areas to carry out rescue operations. Army has also flown the relief material and doctors to the area to tackle the situation.
Indian army's High Altitude Research Institute was also damaged in the calamity.
Officials say around 80 percent of Ladakh's infrastructure has suffered total or partial damage in the deluge and slush.
Flash floods and mudslides have swept the road links and bridges in the area. The deluge has damaged hospitals, schools, government buildings, bus terminals, radio station transmitter, telephone exchange and mobile-phone towers. The devastation has snapped communication links in the area. Many civilian buildings have also been washed away in the heavy downpour.
Five villages are reported to be hit in the sudden downpour and flash floods. These included Sabu, Phyang, Nimoo, Choglumsar and Shapoo. Old Leh city is among the worst affected.
Hundreds of Indian army personnel, paramilitary troopers, policemen and local volunteers are toiling hard to clear roads and searching underneath the debris.
Efforts are in progress to reconnect damaged roads and bridges in the area. Locals said rescue workers are falling short of bulldozers and earth moving equipments in the area.
Authorities said reconstruction efforts will be carried out once rescue operations are over.
"It may take several years to bring Ladakh back on rails," said Abdul Jaleel Lone, a humanitarian aid expert.
Local government has put important telephone numbers, the list of deceased persons and stranded foreign nationals and affected villages on a website for information of general public.
Kashmir has a rugged terrain and landslides and avalanches are often triggered from its mountains during frequent rains and heavy snow the region receives.
The neighboring Pakistan has also suffered the worst flooding in 80 years. Around 14 million people were affected with the floods and 1,600 are reported dead.
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