Six dead, five missing as Sikkim faces floods and landslides due to incessant rainfall

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The water level of the Teesta river surged past the danger mark on Thursday morning, causing severe damage on the roads and disrupting traffic.

Six people died after heavy rain triggered flash floods and landslides in a remote area of India’s northeast.

According to the officials, another five people were missing near the affected area in Sikkim, a state in the Himalayan foothills bordering China and popular with Indian tourists. 

Senior state government official Gopinath Raha said on Friday (June 14), “Flood waters from the Teesta river had washed away roads and bridges, which has temporarily stranded more than 1,500 people.”

“The water level of the Teesta river surged past the danger mark on Thursday morning, causing severe damage on the roads and disrupting traffic,” he told AFP.

Over 100 vehicles were struck at various points in the northern part of Sikkim and more than 1,500 tourists were also stranded in the state as the newly constructed Bailey bridge at Sangkalang came crashing down, severing the link between Mangan and Dzongu and Chungthang. 

Mangan district police superintendent Sonam Dichu informed, “Parts of the state’s north had been cut off from the rest of the country. Many houses have been washed away.”

Sikkim’s state disaster agency reported that rescue operations were in progress, but the damage to the local mobile phone network was hindering relief efforts.

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Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang said that his government was “working in every way possible to provide every possible support to the victims and affected families”.

Flash floods along the river last year, triggered by a glacial lake bursting its banks, dealt extensive damage to roads and bridges across the state.

(With inputs from agencies)

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