As of Saturday, 56 fatalities from floods in India’s northeast had been officially recorded, and the army had issued a warning that armaments that had been swept away by the torrential rains presented a threat to public safety.
Following the abrupt rupture of a high-altitude glacier lake on Wednesday, violent floods swept over the state of Sikkim.
Climate scientists caution that as global temperatures increase and the ice melts, similar calamities will become a greater threat throughout the Himalayas.
“So far 26 bodies have been found in Sikkim,” state relief commissioner Anilraj Rai told AFP by phone.
“The river stretches up to 86 kilometres,” he added. “The search operation is continuing.”
Among the dead are seven Indian army soldiers posted in Sikkim, which sits on India’s remote frontiers with Nepal and China and boasts a sizeable military presence.
Sixteen soldiers are among the more than 100 people still missing.
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In a statement, India’s defense ministry said that “firearms and explosives” from military bases had been carried away by the rains.
According to the ministry, the army has “established lookout teams all along the river” to gather loose ordnance.
According to local media sources on Friday, a mortar shell that exploded while traveling through West Bengal’s floodwaters caused two deaths and four injuries.
Many of the state’s roads, bridges, and telephone lines have been destroyed, making evacuations and attempts to contact the thousands of people cut off from the rest of the country more difficult.
According to the most recent Sikkim government bulletin, the floods had damaged more than 1,200 homes.
Nearly 7,000 people were still missing, although more than 2,400 individuals had been rescued.