A flood that burst through a major hydroelectric dam in India's Himalayan northeast killed at least 31 people, officials said Friday, as ice-cold water swept through mountain towns, washing away houses and bridges and forcing thousands of people to leave their homes.
The flood began shortly after midnight Wednesday, when a glacial lake high in the mountains overflowed after a heavy rainfall. The waters cracked open a 6-year-old dam that was the largest in the Indian state of Sikkim, and then cascaded through towns in the Lachan Valley below.
