India's flood survivors recount their near escapes
Survivors of India's deadly flooding recount the horror of the disaster and their near escapes, with many losing their houses. The death toll is expected to rise with more than 100 people still missing. - REUTERS
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00:00 The death toll continues to rise in a part of the Indian Himalayas after floods from
00:06 a glacial lake burst its banks. Heavy rains in the state of Sikkim and an apparent avalanche
00:12 caused Lonak Lake to spill over, triggering flash floods along the Tisa River downstream.
00:19 In low-lying towns such as Rampo and Singtam, most houses were inundated with slush as high
00:25 as 10 feet. Salunisha was one of the residents whose house was completely damaged.
00:33 We heard that floodwaters had inundated the entire town of Singtam. As soon as we heard
00:39 that we started running. Nobody came to wake us up. Gas cylinder, belongings, everything
00:44 was left behind. What will people like us eat and how will we survive?
00:50 This woman said her family heard a nearby dam was about to burst in the middle of the
00:54 night. They only grabbed important documents and fled the house.
01:00 One local official told Reuters more than a hundred people were still missing as of
01:04 Sunday. Rescue workers were still sifting through rubble and layers of mud.
01:11 There has been massive devastation as you can see for yourself. On both sides of the
01:16 river houses have been damaged. It is particularly bad here as the river came in full flow and
01:22 more than 50 houses were completely damaged here. The mud and the stone chips that entered
01:27 here were more than 10 feet high. Dead bodies are still being recovered here. We have not
01:32 been able to enter any houses so far. So we don't really know how many dead will be found
01:37 inside the houses.
01:39 Part of Sikkim state has also experienced fuel shortages, with supplies unable to reach
01:45 the disaster-hit region with roads and bridges destroyed.
01:48 (speaking in foreign language)