One more body found, Chamoli toll mounts to 69

Rescue and search agencies involved in the Chamoli tragedy recovered one more body on Monday, taking the death toll to 69 with 135 still missing.

The body was found from the Alaknanda river in Srinagar town of Pauri Garhwal district about 160 km from Tapovan.

Praveen Alok, spokesperson SDRF, said, “The body was recovered by SDRF search teams in Srinagar, who are scanning the Alaknanda river on foot and boats to recover the bodies of those missing in the disaster.”

“About 70 personnel in 12 teams of SDRF are searching bodies in the river from Reni village to Srinagar in Pauri Garhwal district alongside the river covering four districts of Chamoli, Rudraprayag, Tehri Garhwal and Pauri Garhwal. After recovering the bodies, their DNA samples are being collected for DNA test with that of their family members to ascertain their identification,” said Alok.

He also said out of the total bodies recovered, 34 have been identified while 35 are yet to be identified.

“Till now, total of 14 bodies have been recovered from the tunnel which is in the focus of the rescue operation. The remaining bodies were recovered from various other places,” added Alok.

The rescue workers have cleared muck up to a distance of about 164 metres in the Tapovan tunnel but are facing difficulty due to the continuous outflow of water from inside. They are using heavy pumps to drain out the water from the tunnel with the help of the NTPC experts.