Uttarakhand glacier burst: 41 bodies recovered, 29 cases of missing people

In the Uttarakhand glacier burst incident, a total of 41 dead bodies have been recovered and 29 cases of missing people have been registered at Joshimath Police Station till now, the state government officials said.

"Cases of 29 missing people have been registered at Joshimath Police Station till now. DNA samples of 55 family members have been taken for assistance in identification. Relief and rescue operation continues," said Chamoli Police.

PK Tiwari, Commandant of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) said three dead bodies have been recovered from the Tapovan tunnel so far.

"We managed to recover three dead bodies from the tunnel. Hopefully, we will be able to take someone alive out of the debris. Currently, we have deployed as many as 5 teams for the recuse work," Tiwari said.

On the difficulties being faced by the NDRF, Tiwari said, "Tonnes of the debris is stuck inside the tunnel. There is a limitation of the amount of work that can be done."

A total of 41 bodies recovered so far in the glacier burst incident, according to the State Disaster Response Force.

A glacier broke in the Tapovan-Reni area of Chamoli District of Uttarakhand on Sunday, which led to massive flooding in Dhauliganga and Alaknanda rivers and damaged houses and the nearby Rishiganga power project.