Out of the twenty-two victims, eight belonged to a single family. The entire family died after being buried under the debris of their own house in Mandi. The Deputy Commissioner of Mandi Arindam Chaudhary informed that six people are still missing and are feared dead.
The districts of Kangra, Chamba and Mandi have been severely affected by extreme weather events. So far, around 40 weather-related incidents have been reported in Himachal Pradesh. The Chakki railway bridge of Kangra, which connects Pathankot and Jogindernagar, was washed away on Saturday due to intense flash floods.
Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur reviewed the flood situation via video conference on Saturday and stated that directions have been issued to ensure that an adequate number of emergency responders and machinery are placed at critical locations.
The chief minister also promised that all the major roads leading to hospitals would be repaired as soon as possible.
He also tweeted that officials have been directed to take immediate relief and rescue measures and that the state government will request the Centre to send an additional team for relief and rehabilitation efforts.
Meanwhile, news agency ANI said the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an orange alert across Himachal Pradesh. IMD Deputy Director of State, Bui Lal, said the state will continue to receive moderate to heavy rainfall over the next five days.
"The next 5 days to see moderate to heavy rain. An orange alert has been issued for the next 12 hours for the whole state, yellow alert for the rest of the days till August 24," Lal said.
5 who went missing in flash floods, untraceable
Out of six people who were missing on Saturday, five remain untraceable as efforts are on to find them, the officials informed on Sunday, according to news agency ANI.
Sudesh Kumar Mokhta, director of the State Disaster Management Department, said the five people who went missing after a flash flood in Baghi nullah on the Mandi-Katola-Prashar road in Mandi are still untraceable.
The Shimla-Chandigarh highway, which was closed on Saturday evening due to a landslide at Sonu Bangla between Shoghi and Tara Devi, has been reopened, according to Mokhta.
