Deaths rise to 47 after an icy flood swept through India’s Himalayan northeast

ABC News:

GANGTOK, Sikkim — Rescuers found more bodies overnight as they dug through slushy debris and ice-cold water in a hunt for survivors after a glacial lake burst through a dam in India’s Himalayan northeast, washing away houses and bridges and forcing thousands to flee.

Officials said the hundreds of rescuers recovered six more bodies early Saturday, taking the death toll to 47. At least 150 people are still missing.

The flood began shortly after midnight Wednesday, when the waters of a glacial lake overflowed, cracking open the biggest hydroelectric dam in Sikkim state. The icy waters then cascades through towns in the valley below, where it killed scores of people and carried some bodies kilometers (miles) away.

Bad weather has made rescue efforts more challenging. Police said nearly 4,000 tourists were stranded in two locations, Lachung and Lachen in the northern part of the state, where access was severely restricted as the floods had washed away roads.

Some 3,900 people were currently in 26 relief camps set up by the state, Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang said on Saturday. He added that seven out of the 22 Indian army soldiers who were reported missing had died.