21 killed in Sikkim flash floods, landslides

Gangtok : At least twenty one bodies, including those of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and Border Roads Organisation (BRO) personnel, have so far been found while eight persons are missing due to flash flood and landslides in remote areas of North Sikkim, official sources said on Sunday. The dead include four from the ITBP, two of their family members, and 12 junior officers from the BRO. Other victims were casual labourers, officials said.

Most of the casualties were reported from Rangma range. Landslides were caused by heavy rains since September 19, Deputy Commissioner North district T.W. Khangsherpa said. About nine landslides occurred blocking the main road between Chungthang and Mangan in the district, he said. Army and IAF personnel have started rescue operations in full swing. Several landslides blocked main roads between Chungthang and Pegong. 

Houses between Rangma and Chungthang were washed away in flash floods along Lachen river. The state government has declared a state of alert along the establishments on the river banks right from Lachen, Lachung, Chungthang, Mangan, Dikchu, Singtam and Rangpo, a government press release said. Early Sunday, another landslide was reported from a place a km away from Mangan, the district headquarter town of North Sikkim.