A day after a devastating flash flood in the Himalayas, the Indian army sent sniffer dogs, drones, and heavy earthmoving equipment on Wednesday to look for hundreds of people who went missing.
A wall of muddy water and debris ripped down a small mountain valley, crashing into the town of Dharali in Uttarakhand state, leaving at least four people dead and about 100 people missing, including 11 troops.
“To expedite the efforts, additional army columns, as well as army tracker dogs, drones, logistic drones, earthmoving equipment, etc., have been moved,” the army announced on Wednesday.
“Essential supplies, medicines, and (for the) evacuation of the marooned” were being brought in by military helicopters, the statement continued.
Uttarakhand State Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said the flood was caused by an intense “cloudburst” of rain, and that rescue teams had been deployed “on a war footing”.
Videos broadcast on Indian media showed a terrifying surge of muddy water sweeping away multi-storey apartment blocks in the tourist region on Tuesday afternoon.
Several people could be seen running before being engulfed by the dark waves of debris that uprooted entire buildings.
Minister of State for Defence Sanjay Seth told the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency late Tuesday that he had reports of “four deaths and around 100 people missing”.
