Rescuers are searching for survivors after a glacial lake overflowed and burst through a dam in India s Himalayan north. The flood has killed at least 31 people, with 100 still missing. The cause of the flood is unclear, but experts suggest intense rain and a nearby earthquake may have contributed.
A glacial lake that overflowed in India’s Himalayan northeast, sending ice cold water crashing through a major dam and towns and killing at least 31 people, had been identified by state officials, researchers and environmental activists as dangerous years before the disaster. The flood began shortly after midnight Wednesday, when a glacial lake high in the mountains overflowed after a heavy rainfall. The waters crashed into the largest dam in the state of Sikkim, cracking its concrete before cascading through towns in the Lachan Valley below and sweeping away people, houses, roads and bridges.
Hundreds of rescuers dug through slushy debris and fast-flowing, icy water Friday in a search for survivors after a glacial lake burst through a dam in India’s Himalayan northeast, a disaster that many had warned was possible for years.
Hundreds of rescuers dug through slushy debris and fast-flowing, icy water Friday in a search for survivors after a glacial lake burst through a dam in India’s Himalayan northeast, a