Rescue workers and forces by Monday evening have recovered 26 bodies so far in the search operations in the wake of flash-flood due to alleged glacier burst, which hit the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand on Sunday morning.
Uttarakhand Director General of Police Ashok Kumar said “Final number of the dead body recovered in Tapovan till 8 p.m. on 8th February is 26. 171 people still remain missing out of which around 35 are supposed to be in the Tunnel where rescue operation is still going on.”
The rescue operation by several agencies like Indo-Tibetan Border Police and National Disaster Response Force was going at war-footing to free the people stranded in tunnels. Machines were still scooping out debris clogging the tunnel.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat took stock of the situation in Chamoli district and emphasized on saving lives as the topmost priority. The debris cleaning was expected to be completed by late Monday evening. He had also announced financial assistance of Rs 4 lakhs to each family of those killed in the disaster.
