Death toll rises to 11 in Himachal cloudbursts

Shimla: The death toll due to flash floods triggered by cloudbursts in three districts of Himachal Pradesh has increased to 11 with the recovery of two more bodies from Mandi district. Over 40 people are still missing after a series of cloudbursts occurred in Kullu's Nirmand, Sainj and Malana, Mandi's Padhar and Shimla's Rampur subdivision on the night of July 31 and wreaked havoc. The bodies of Sonam (23) and three-month-old Manvi were recovered from Rajbhan village in Padhar area of Mandi district, officials said. The rescue operations are still underway and sniffer dogs, drones and other equipment are also being used to locate the 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. Over 30 people are missing in Samej village in Gram panchayat Sarpara in Rampur subdivision. More machines have been deployed and the rescue operations are going in full swing. As the flow of water has reduced, now machines have reached the spot where the missing persons could be possibly found, Up-pradhan Sarpara C L Negi said.