Sikkim flood death toll rises to 27, search ops continue for 141 missing

The toll in the flash flood in Sikkim rose to 27 on Saturday even as search operations continued for the 141 people who are still missing, an official report said.

Twenty-seven people including eight Army men were killed in the flash flood, which was triggered by a cloudburst in the early hours of Wednesday and affected over 25,000 people, damaged more than 1,200 houses and washed away 13 bridges in the picturesque Himalayan state, said the report by the Secretary-cum State Relief Commissioner, Land Revenue and Disaster Management Department on Saturday.

The body of one more Army man was found in West Bengal on Saturday.

Of the 27 deaths - four were from Mangan district, six in Gangtok district, nine in Pakyong and eight army men, the report said.

So far, 2,413 people have been rescued from different areas and 6,875 people are taking shelter in 22 relief camps set up across the state, most of which has been cut off from the rest of the country.

Twenty-six people suffered grievous injury in the flash flood which required hospitalisation, it said.

The flash flood affected 25,065 people in four districts - Mangan, Gangtok, Pakyong and Namchi, the report said.

Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang announced an ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh for the families of the deceased and an immediate relief of Rs 2,000 each for all those taking shelter in the camps.

"There have been damage worth thousands of crores of rupees. We cannot give exact details about the damage. It will be revealed once a committee is formed and completes its analysis. Our first priority is to save those who are stranded and provide them immediate relief," he told PTI Video.

"Road connectivity between the districts has been cut off and bridges have been washed away. Communication in North Sikkim has been severely affected," he added.

Of the 23 Army personnel who had gone missing from Bardang, the bodies of eight have been recovered from different areas downstream of Teesta, while one of them was rescued earlier.

The search for the remaining missing soldiers is continuing both in Sikkim and the northern parts of West Bengal through which the Teesta flows, the chief minister said.