Sikkim flash flood death toll rises to 44, list of missing doubles to 142 | India News

Siliguri/Kalimpong/Kolkata: The ravages of Wednesday’s flash flood in North Sikkim continued to haunt the region as six more bodies washed ashore downstream of the Teesta in neighbouring Bengal’s Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar on Friday, taking the number of confirmed casualties to 44.
The list of missing people almost doubled overnight to 142, based on freshly collated data from Namchi and Pakyong districts of Sikkim.Till late Thursday, the number had stood at 78.
All six bodies found downstream on the third day since the disaster – a glacial lake outburst flood, or GLOF – were those of residents of Pakyong, the Sikkim government said.
Families of those still missing since the flash floods in Sikkim, especially tourists, spent another agonising day waiting for news from the state amid multiple abortive attempts by rescue helicopters to reach those believed to be stranded in Lachen, Lachung and Chungthang.

“The helicopters were ready, but the conditions weren’t fit for flying,” said a senior Sikkim Police officer, who trekked to Chungthang from Mangan to take stock.
The Army on Friday confirmed that at least four bodies found a day after the disaster were of soldiers, 22 of whom were officially reported missing after the flash flood ploughed through a series of camps along the Teesta basin.
Sikkim chief minister Prem Singh Tamang announced ex gratia of Rs 4 lakh to the families of each of those who died in the flash flood.

A 25-strong NDRF team headed to Chungthang from Guwahati in Assam to join the rescue effort had to return to Bagdogra airport in Siliguri because of inclement weather. Sunil Saraogi, executive chairman of Sikkim Urja Limited – Sikkim’s largest hydropower project that was severely damaged in the flash flood – said the company had hired a helicopter for rescue, but the weather refused to be an ally.
The Sikkim government said the old, infirm and families needing medical assistance would be given helicopter-rescue priority.
Krishna Murthy from Karnataka’s Mysore was among those praying for a call or a message that would put him out of his misery, having been unable to contact his daughter Tanvi since the flash flood. “I last spoke to her on Tuesday, when she was in Lachen. She sent me a photograph. She is there with a friend, Harsha,” he told TOI.