Uttarakhand assembly speaker says 10,000 dead, Shinde says 900

Confusion prevailed over the death toll in the Uttarakhand tragedy with state assembly Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal Saturday claiming over 10,000 people had perished while union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said the death toll was 900.

Kunjwal told reporters in Dehradun that during his earlier tour of the flood-devastated areas of the state he had put the death toll at 5,000-6,000.

"But after hearing accounts of the devastation from people coming down from the mountains and that of people calling me up of the piles of bodies, I feel the toll could be well over 10,000."

In New Delhi, Shinde clarified that the toll was 900 according to the information with him. He added that the complete figure on the deaths was not out yet and it would take some days for that.

He said 105,000 people had been evacuated so far from the flood-hit areas.

"We will do combing operations now to see if anyone is left out.. the roads are broken, there is no communication.. it will take some days," he added.