Leh flash floods: 137 dead, 600 still missing

A day after devastating flash floods hit Leh town and adjoining areas, 137 bodies have been pulled out and nearly 600 people continue to remain missing as rescue workers struggled to reach affected areas that have been completely cut off.

Roads and bridges to far-flung areas have either been washed away or severely damaged. The death toll is expected to rise as bodies are being pulled out of the rubble. The heavy carpet of mud and slush that has settled over buildings were painstakingly being removed during the day. The magnitude of this natural calamity was ominous, authorities said.

[Friends and families of tourists in the area may call up for news on the satellite phone number 00870763613623, the Jammu and Kashmir Government has said.]

Many deaths happened in a labour camp of the Military Engineering Services in Phyang where more than 250 workers stayed. They were on road construction projects in the general area. Scores are still missing at the labour camp and several Army teams are on the spot for rescue work.

The Army is still missing 33 soldiers in the Turtuk area. The jawans went missing after their camp on the riverside was washed away.

The other area badly affected is Sabu village near Leh, directly above which the cloudburst took place. Most houses in the village have been flattened and it has been cut off from the road head. Local authorities fear the death toll will go up drastically as rescue workers are digging through the debris. Chuglomsar, which is downstream from Sabu, has also been badly affected.