At least 14 people have been killed and 102 are still missing in the north-east Indian state of Sikkim after heavy rain caused a glacial lake to burst its banks, triggering flash floods down a mountain valley.
The disaster, which took place on Wednesday, has affected more than 22,000 people, according to the authorities, and 22 army personnel are among the missing. It has also left over 3,000 tourists stranded after the floods washed away the main highways and bridges.
The catastrophic overflow of Lhonak Lake took place after five times the usual amount of rain fell on the state during a cloudburst, causing a dam to partially collapse in the Teesta valley, close to the border with China. Video footage showed the muddy flood waters surging into built-up areas, causing houses to collapse and submerging army bases.
“The search operations are being undertaken under conditions of incessant rains, fast-flowing water in Teesta River, roads and bridges washed away at many places,” a defence spokesperson said on the X social media platform, formerly known as Twitter.
Authorities warned the rescue operation would be challenging as more rain was forecast in coming days and mobile and phone lines continued to be down.
The incident is the latest extreme weather event to take place in the fragile Himalayan mountain region in south Asia, which is heavily affected by the climate crisis and has recently been hit by excessive and unseasonable rainfall, flooding and landslides.
About 250 people died in the mountainous state of Himachal Pradesh during the monsoon after unprecedentedly heavy rains washed away swathes of roads and caused catastrophic landslides.
“Sadly, this is the latest in a series of deadly flash floods that ricocheted across the Hindu Kush-Himalayan region this monsoon, bringing the reality of this region’s extreme vulnerability to climate change all too vividly alive,” said Pema Gyamtsho, director general of the Nepal-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development.
