Military airlifts flood victims in Sikkim; toll 89

Army helicopters began the arduous process of evacuating stranded tourists in Sikkim on Monday, five days after flash floods caused by a glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) devastated the hill state and parts of West Bengal and inclement weather hampered rescue operations. The death toll from the disaster rose to 89.

- Pramod Giri

Overall, the army has compiled a list of around 2,000 people that continue to be marooned in north Sikkim, with 493 tourists and nine locals evacuated by the force's Mi-17 and Chinook helicopters, the Sikkim land revenue and disaster management said in a statement on Monday evening. Tourists were airlifted from Lachung, Chaten and Lachen in north Sikkim. The operations came on a day when Sikkim chief minister Prem Singh Tamang held a meeting with chief of army staff Manoj Pande and other senior officials in state capital Gangtok, senior state officials said.

Three more bodies were on Monday found in West Bengal's Jalpaiguri district, where several corpses have been carried downstream by the Teesta river. "Till Sunday, 43 bodies were recovered from Jalpaiguri. Three more have been found in the last 24 hours," said Khandbahale Umesh Ganpat, Jalpaiguri district superintendent of police.