5 persons feared washed away in flash floods in Shimla distt

A vehicle with eight persons onboard was washed away in flash floods caused by a cloud burst in Lot Nalla near Chaba, 60km from here this evening.
Three persons were rescued while five other, including four tourists from Punjab and a guide, were feared to have been washed away along with the Bolero vehicle which was not traceable.
The tourists, who had gone to Loti Nalla for river rafting, were caught offguard as gushing waters swept the vehicle and a small pump house at Mongri in the vicinity, said Additional Chief Secretary(Revenue) Tarun Sridhar.
Relief and rescue teams headed by the SDM reached the spot and rescue operations are on to trace the missing persons, he added.

Heavy rains lashed several parts of Himachal Pradesh triggering landslides in interior areas and Dharamsala was the wettest in the region with 35.4 mm rains.
Shimla and surrounding resorts of Kufri and Fagu were lashed a storm accompanied by sharp showers, affecting power supply.
The sky remained heavily overcast and fog engulfed the region, reducing visibility and vehicles moved at snail's pace with head lights turned on even during the day. Met office has warned of thunderstorm and hailstorm at isolated places in mid hills over next three days and predicted rains and thundershowers at some places during next four days.