New Delhi: Nearly 350 people, hit by rains and flood in Uttarakhand continue to remain untraceable, raising fears that all of them are dead, vice chairman of NDMA M Sashidhar Reddy said.
"344 people are still missing. There are indications that the death toll may go up," he said at a press conference here.
According to official figures, so far 822 people lost their lives following the natural disaster in Uttarakhand.
Reddy said 2,000 people, trapped in different places in the hill state, were rescued yesterday and the National Disaster Management Authority hopes the rescue operation will be completed within a couple of days.
"Yesterday evening, almost 4,000 people were left stranded at different places. A day before, there were 6,000 people. Yesterday, 2,000 were rescued. This work shall be completed in two days," he said.
Reddy said efforts were being made to evacuate bodies under the debris in Kedarnath and the debris are eight to ten feet high.
The NDMA has sent a team of psychatrists to Badrinath so that the people, who were stranded there for so many days, can get some counselling and the authority was in touch with the state health department officials.
"We are working on this (relief and rehabilitation) as quickly as possible," he said.
PTI
