Sikkim Flash Floods Day 3: Missing Army men still untraceable, search ops continue

The 22 Indian Army personnel who went missing after the glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) occurred at the Lhonak Lake in the Chungthang area of North Sikkim and caused a flash flood in the Teesta river basin on Wednesday, remained untraceable for the third day today.

Search operations to locate the missing army personnel continue, focussing downstream towards the Teesta Barrage.

The team of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) are excavating the army vehicles from the site of the incident at Burdang near Singtam.

To provide additional assistance with the search activities, more resources such as–personnel from Tiranga Mountain Rescue, tracker dogs, and specialized radars have been sent to the NDRF team.

Meanwhile, the troops of TriShakti Corps Indian Army were able to account for the 1471 tourists who were present in the Lachen/Chatten, Lachung, and Chungthang.

With the weather slightly improving today, the State Government, Indian Army and Indian Air Force are jointly planning for helicopter evacuation of stranded tourists.

At least 30 people died and over 100 others, including the 22 army personnel have gone missing, after the GLOF occurred at the Lhonak Lake.

The powerful floods caused by the GLOF completely destroyed vital infrastructure, roads, and houses while threatening people’s lives, and livelihoods in the Himalayan state.

Sikkim Governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya visited Singtam yesterday afternoon and took stock of the situation at the relief camps.

Speaking to media, the Governor said that the government is taking every possible step to help the victims and informed that the Centre is monitoring the situation closely.

He also said that the relief camp inmates are being provided with the required medicines and other essentials.

Also Read: What is GLOF? Which caused catastrophic floods in Sikkim killing 30 people so far. Read to know more