The toll in the flash flood in Sikkim mounted to 21 on October 6 as Army and NDRF teams worked their way through slushy earth and fast-flowing water in the Teesta river basin and downstream north Bengal for the third day in search of those who were swept away and are still missing, officials said.
Of the 23 army personnel who were missing from the Burdang area, the bodies of seven have been recovered from different areas downstream while one was rescued and the search is on for 15 missing jawans, Chief Minister P.S. Tamang said.
A total of 103 people, including the 15 jawans, remained missing after a cloudburst over Lhonak Lake in North Sikkim in the early hours of October 4 triggered the flash flood.
