Death Toll in Indian Monsoon Flooding Nears 600
Source: Associated Press
Death Toll in Indian Monsoon Flooding Nears 600
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: June 21, 2013 at 10:28 AM ET
JOSHIMATH, India — Rescuers found bodies in the River Ganges and in the muddy, broken earth left by landslides, raising the death toll from monsoon flooding in mountainous northern India to nearly 600 Friday, officials said.
The air force dropped paratroopers, food and medicine for people trapped in up to 100 towns and villages cut off since Sunday in the Himalayan state of Uttrakhand where thousands of people are stranded, many of them Hindu pilgrims who were visiting four shrines in the area.
Uttrakhand state Chief Minister Vijay Bahguna said 556 bodies have been noticed buried deep in slush and the army was trying to recover them. He spoke to CNN-IBN television channel on Friday. Rescuers also Friday found 40 bodies floating in the Ganges near Haridwar, a Hindu holy city, said police officer Rajiv Swaroop.
Bahguna said the eventual toll would be in the hundreds. Rakesh Sharma, another state official, had said Thursday the death toll might reach the thousands but the exact figure would not be known until the entire region is checked.
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2013/06/21/world/asia/ap-as-india-floods.html?_r=0
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