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Death toll now at 5,000 in India floods
June 24, 2013, 7:53 am

[AP]

Home minister Sushilkumar Shinde said that 34,000 people have been evacuated so far [AP]

At least 5,000 people have been killed by flash floods in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand last week, said a government official on Sunday.

“At least 5,000 people must have been killed in the deluge that inflicted heavy damage on vast tracts of land especially in Kedarnath valley,” India’s disaster management minister Yashpal Arya told local media.

Rescuers and the military have evacuated all the pilgrims stranded in the Kedarnath valley, the Hindu temple town which was the epicentre of the flood last week.

The meteorological department has warned of more rains in the region from Monday.

Home minister Sushilkumar Shinde said that 34,000 people have been evacuated so far but 50,000 were still stranded in the region.

Air rescue operations have been temporarily suspended because of bad weather conditions.

Source: Agencies