(TheLibertyRevolution.com)- Hundreds of people are missing following the collapse of a Himalayan glacier that smashed into a dam. Some eighteen bodies have already been recovered in India’s mountains, but more than 200 are still missing as rescuers hunt for anybody trapped beneath the rubble.
The glacier collapsed from the hillside on Sunday, trapping people in a tunnel and sending floods of water down a mountain valley. The water destroys the Rishiganga hydroelectric plants and damaged a bigger plant along the Dhauliganga river that was in the process of being built by government operation NTPC.
Among those still missing are people who worked on the hydroelectric projects.
State chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said that the number of people missing keeps on changing as people begin to emerge from the remote villages in the mountains.
Video footage showed just how severe the flooding was, with water bursting through a damn and washing away huge pieces of construction equipment. Bridges were also destroyed in the process.
100-150 feared dead after a “Himalayan glacier broke” & washed away dam construction in India. Rescuers are trying to save workers trapped in tunnels https://t.co/pbL8ohQBVg pic.twitter.com/JgciyHYAgZ
— Alec Luhn (@ASLuhn) February 7, 2021
The water came from the second-highest peak in India, Nanda Devi, and resulted in thousands of military and paramilitary personnel beginning search-and-rescue operations in the region.
On Monday, Uttarakhand’s Director General of Police, Ashok Kumar, said that at least 26 bodies have been recovered.
Final number of 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.@DDNewslive @ANI @aajtak @ZeeNews @ABPNews @htTweets @timesofindia
— Ashok Kumar IPS (@Ashokkumarips) February 8, 2021
Sangram Singh Rawat, who is a former council member for the village of Raini, said that everything was swept away, including “people, cattle, and trees.”
It is still unclear what made the glacier burst on Sunday morning, though some experts have speculated it may be a result of melting snow after heavy precipitation in the Nanda Devi area recently.
