Stunning videos of glacier rupture in Himalayas causing tragedy in India

Indian authorities on Sunday launched a search operation after part of a mountain glacier ruptured, causing a huge surge of water, mud and debris that damaged homes and a power plant in the Himalayas . There are at least nine dead and at least 200 missing.

Part of the Nanda Devi glacier, in the Tapovan region of the northern state of Uttarakhand, went out on Sunday morning and caused damage to the Rishiganga power station, according to police officer Rishi Khemka. A video shared by authorities and taken from the side of a steep hill shows a wall of water rushing towards one of the dams and shattering it to pieces with little resistance before heading downstream.

More than 2000 soldiers, paramilitary groups and police They were involved in the search and rescue operation, including mountaineering expert soldiers, who worked late into the night under bright halogen lights, authorities said.

Rishiganga hydroelectric power station was destroyedwhile the one in Dhauliganga was damaged, said Vivek Pandey, a spokesman for the Indo-Tibetan border paramilitary police.

Pandey said at least 42 workers were trapped in two tunnels at the Dhauliganga factory; 12 others who were trapped in one tunnel have been rescued and at least 30 are in the other tunnel, he added.

Another 140 workers from the two factories are still missing, he said.

Ravi Bejaria, a government spokesperson, said the floods also damaged housesAlthough authorities did not indicate the number of residents injured, missing or killed.

The glacier detachment released water trapped behind the ice, as well as mud and other material down the mountain and in other bodies of water. A notice has been issued for residents of the banks of the Alaknanda River to immediately move to safer areas.

Several rescue teams went to the affected area, authorities said.

“It all started around 10 a.m.. We heard an explosion that rocked our village, ” Dinesh Negi, a resident of Raini Town, told The Associated Press by phone. He said they were watching from above as the water turned muddy and turned into a torrent.

“We knew something bad had happened,” Negi said. “We could see the fury of the river.”

Video showed rescuers in camouflage uniforms and bright yellow or red helmets, using ropes to reach victims. A man who was pulled out of a muddy hole threw his arms in the air and rescuers laughed and rejoiced with him. Rescuers comforted the victims who were lying on a row of stretchers in the open.

Scientists have long known that global warming is contributing to the melting and breaking up of the world’s glaciers.

The Himalayan region has a chain of energy projects on the Alaknanda River and its tributaries.

More than 1,000 people died in 2013 in Uttarakhand when heavy rains caused landslides and flooding, sweeping through thousands of homes and roads and cutting off many areas of the state.

Source: AP and AFP

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