Himachal cloudbursts: Death toll rises to 9, hunt for about 45 missing continues

Flash floods in Himachal Pradesh increase death toll to nine, with 45 missing; rescue operation continues with 410 rescuers.

With the recovery of a body from Rajban village in Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi, the death toll due to flash floods triggered by cloudbursts in three districts has increased to nine as the rescuers continue to search for about 45 missing people.

According to officials, 410 rescuers from teams of the Army, NDRF, SDRF, ITBP, CISF, Himachal Pradesh Police and home guards are involved in the hunt with the help of drones.

About 45 people have been missing since a series of cloudbursts occurred in Kullu's Nirmand, Sainj and Malana; Mandi's Padhar and Shimla's Rampur sub-division on the night of July 31 and wreaked havoc.

The body of a 11-year-old girl was found under a big boulder, which was blasted by the rescue teams, the officials said.

"The possibility of rescuing people alive is diminishing with each passing hour but we just hope that the bodies are recovered soon as any delay would lead to decaying of bodies, which would make identification difficult," said a village head.

"A combined rescue operation is underway and efforts are afoot to search for the missing people. We are using various equipment and sensors to detect victims buried or trapped under the debris," said NDRF Commanding Officer Karam Singh whose team along with others is engaged in searching for the missing people in Samej village on the border of Shimla and Kullu district.

In Rampur sub-division's Samej village, over 30 people are reported missing.