The Ministry of Defence on Saturday evening informed that it continues its operation to search for 14 soldiers missing in the flash flood in Sikkim. 23 personnel of the Indian Army have been reported missing since the Glacial Lake Outburst in South Lhonak Lake in North Sikkim caused the Teesta Dam to collapse in the wee hours on 4th October 2023.
The Ministry stated that one soldier was rescued by villagers on 4th evening and till 7th October, 26 bodies had been retrieved along the river in North Bengal of which four bodies had been handed over by Bangladesh Border Forces. Out of the 26 recovered bodies, eight have been positively identified as that of Indian Army soldiers, it said.
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It was mentioned in the statement that 23 soldiers and 399 vehicles were submerged in silt or swept away when they were taking a temporary overnight transit halt in a vehicle parking area at Burdang near Singtam.
The Ministry stated that at the site of the incident, silt and mud measuring up to 30-40 feet high has been deposited and most of the vehicles are buried underneath. A massive Search and Rescue operation was immediately launched by the Indian Army, BRO along with NDRF, State Disaster Relief Teams, Para Military Forces, Police, Civil Administration and local populace of Sikkim & North Bengal, it added.
General Manoj Pande #COAS and All Ranks of the #IndianArmy express heartfelt condolences on the sad demise of eight #IndianArmy Soldiers in the unfortunate incident of flash floods arising out of glacial lake burst in #Sikkim.
We stand firm with the bereaved families in this… pic.twitter.com/INTjOybWDf
— ADG PI – INDIAN ARMY (@adgpi) October 7, 2023
Dozers and plant equipment have been digging and so far, 15 vehicles out of the total 39 missing have been recovered.
Moreover, ammunition, explosives and stores of the Indian Army from various camps swept away have been reported from various places along the downstream river banks for which the Indian Army has issued advisories through civil administration and deployed look out teams along with State Police to warn the locals for reporting sighting of such items. Ammunition experts have been deployed to destroy the explosives recovered in a controlled manner, it informed.
The Defence Ministry stated that as per the Sikkim Government’s estimate, a total of 142 persons are missing, out of which 26 bodies have been recovered so far. However, the exact assessment of the damage is yet to be corroborated due to the inclement weather and incessant rains, it added.
