Five bodies recovered, 52 missing in flood in HP

SHIMLA: Five bodies were recovered while 52 others were missing in flash floods caused by cloudburst in Himachal Pradesh's Ganavi village that swept away 16 houses, a senior district official said on Wednesday.

Flood waters also swept the building of a primary health centre and store house of irrigation and public health department (IPH), Sub Divisional Magistrate of Rampur D K Rattan, who is supervising relief and rescue operations in the village, told said.

Among the five dead were four women, including an IPH department worker.

The missing people were living in 16 houses, the SDM said.

Asked if those missing were feared washed away in the flood, Rattan said he would be able to confirm only after debris of the 16 houses that collapsed were properly searched.

Twenty cattle and other domestic animals have also been washed away in the flood water that gushed into the village last evening taking people by surprise.

Teams of army, Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) besides the district police reached the village in the night and were carrying relief and rescue operation, Rattan said.

The district administration has also made arrangements of medical staff for the flood victims.