Uttarakhand avalanche: 12 bodies recovered so far, death toll rises to 50

The State Disaster Response Force stated that 12 bodies have been recovered so far on February 14, taking the total number of bodies retrieved to 50, a week after flash floods caused by possible glacier burst wreaked havoc in the area, ANI reported.  

Uttarakhand Director General of Police Ashok Kumar stated that four bodies had been retrieved from the Tapovan tunnel on Sunday. Two bodies found in Raini village in the morning, taking the total body count on February 14 to six. Out of 204 missing people, 50 have been found. 

The rescue team on Saturday drilled a wider and deeper hole into the tunnel to reach nearly 30 people trapped inside.  

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“Two bodies have been recovered from the tunnel today. Search and rescue operations at Tapovan in Chamoli have been intensified following the recovery of the two bodies,” Bhadoria said.

The confirmed death toll in the Uttarakhand disaster rose to 50.

Also read: ‘Grateful for nature’: How a tree saved a man during Uttarakhand glacier breach

The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and the Army are part of the multi-agency rescue effort, which continues even as hopes of finding the trapped workers alive recede with each passing hour.

On January 7 around 10 am,  a part of the Nanda Devi glacier broke off at Joshimath in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district. The gushing water from the breach triggered an avalanche that swept away hydroelectric stations.

The alarmingly increased water levels in the Dhauli Ganga, Rishi Ganga and Alaknanda rivers caused large scale devastation and two hydroelectric projects– NTPC’s Tapovan-Vishnugad hydel project and the Rishi Ganga Hydel Project– were damaged. Around 150 labourers got trapped in tunnels as waters came rushing in.