Leh Cloud burst: Search operations for missing persons intensify; Death toll rises to 145
merisarkar news service
New Delhi, August 08, 2010
Death toll rises to 145, search operations intensify
In Jammu and Kashmir, rescuers have intensified search operation for nearly 500 missing persons in Leh town ravaged by devastating cloud burst. The death toll due to Friday's flash flood has risen to 145.
According to local media reports, members of rescue teams waded through knee-deep mud to extricate trapped people. Jawans of Indian Army, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and General Reserve Engineer Force (GREF) ploughed through the silt and boulders with earth movers, cranes and other machines.
A group of about 45 National Disaster Response Force personnel have joined the rescue efforts. Tourists were also seen giving a helping hand.
Both the ITBP and the Army have set up various camps to look after hundreds of injured. The ITBP had also set up community kitchens along the roads which are feeding the homeless. More than 1,300 persons, mostly Indian and foreign tourists, were airlifted from Leh and brought to Delhi.
