About 100 people missing as flash flood tears through town in northern India

Large-scale search and rescue operation under way after at least five people killed in Himalayan region

Dozens of people were missing after a fast-moving surge of water and mud smashed into a town in India’s Himalayan region on Tuesday, tearing down a mountain valley and demolishing buildings, killing at least five people.

Videos broadcast on Indian media showed a terrifying river of muddy water engulf the town of Dharali in Uttarakhand state on Tuesday afternoon, sweeping away entire homes and apartment blocks. In footage recorded at the scene, people could been seen screaming in fear as they tried to escape the surging flood waters.

Dozens in the village had been gathered in a temple for a festival as the wave of dark water and debris struck at high velocity.

The Indian defence minister, Sanjay Seth, confirmed that four people had been killed in the disaster but officials feared the number could rise. Approximately 100 people were reported missing on Tuesday and scores remained unaccounted for and feared trapped in the mud, including about eight soldiers who were reported missing from a camp in the area.

“The number of missing persons is unknown. However, the relief efforts have continued through the night,” said the rescue leader, Colonel Harshvardhan, in a post on X on Wednesday. “We are trying to rescue people and take them to safety.”

The Uttarakhand state chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said rescue teams had been deployed “on a war footing”.

Dhami said the flood was caused by a sudden and intense “cloudburst”, calling the destruction “extremely sad and distressing”. The India Meteorological Department said it had recorded “extremely heavy” rainfall of about 21cm (8in) in some parts of Uttarakhand.

Overnight rescue efforts were hampered as heavy rain continued to fall and access remained challenging, as several key roads had washed away. Rivers across Uttarakhand were flowing above the danger mark on Wednesday, leading to concerns of further landslides and disasters in the area. The central water commission said that four rivers at five sites remained in a “severe flood situation”.

India’s army said 150 troops had reached the town, helping to rescue about 20 people who had survived the wall of freezing sludge. “A massive mudslide struck Dharali … triggering a sudden flow of debris and water through the settlement,” the army said.

Images released by the army, taken from the site after the main torrent showed swathes of the town swamped mud and deep debris, and a slow moving muddy river still flowing through the town.

“Search and rescue efforts are ongoing, with all available resources being deployed to locate and evacuate any remaining stranded persons,” an army spokesperson, Suneel Bartwal, said.

The prime minister, Narendra Modi, expressed his condolences, and said that “no stone is being left unturned in providing assistance”.

Deadly floods and landslides are common during the monsoon season from June to September, but experts say the climate crisis, coupled with urbanisation, is increasing their frequency and severity.

Cover photo:   Raging flash flood tearing into Indian town of Dharali