Dehradun:
A sudden flood leading a mud torrent hit a city in the Himalayan region in India on Tuesday, killing at least four people with a hundred other disappeared.
The roaring waters destroyed a narrow mountain valley, demolishing the buildings while the flood moved to the city of Dharali in the state of Uttarakhand.
“This is a serious situation,” said Minister of State for Defense, Sanjay Seth, to the press agency Press Trust of India (PTI).
“We have received information on four deaths and around 100 missing people. We pray for their safety.”
Videos broadcast on the Indian media have shown a terrifying increase in muddy water sweeping with several floors in the tourist region.
Several people could be seen to run before being engulfed by the dark waves of debris which uprooted whole buildings.
Uttarakhand’s chief minister in the state of the Uttarakhand Singh Dhami, said that rescue teams had been deployed “on a warfare”.
The army of India said that 150 soldiers had reached the city, helping to save around twenty people who had survived the wall of icy sludge.
“A massive mud flow struck Dharali … triggering a sudden flow of debris and water through the colony,” said the army. The images published by the army, taken from the site after the passage of the main torrent, showed a slow mud river.
A large strip of the city was overwhelmed by deep debris. In places, the mud launched the houses of houses.
The commander of the response force to the disasters of the State, Arpan Yaduvanshi, said that the mud was 50 feet (15 meters) deep in places, submerging certain buildings.
“Research and rescue efforts are underway, all the available resources being deployed to locate and evacuate the remaining blocked people,” said army spokesperson Suneel Bartwal.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed condolences in a statement and said that “no stone has been not returned to provide assistance”.
The chief minister Dhami said that the flood was caused by a sudden and intense “cloudburst”, describing the destruction of “extremely sad and painful”.
