Himalayan rescuers recover more bodies as flash flood death toll rises to 50

Members of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) carry the body of a victim after recovering it from the debris inside a tunnel during a rescue operation after a flash flood swept a mountain valley destroying dams and bridges, in Tapovan in the northern state of Uttarakhand, India, February 14, 2021. REUTERS/Stringer

LUCKNOW, India (Reuters) - Rescuers pulled out nine more bodies from the site of a flash flood in a Himalayan region of northern India on Sunday, a week after the disaster struck, bringing the death toll to 50 with more than 150 people still missing, officials said.

The flash flood in Uttarakhand state, triggered by what scientists said could have been a large avalanche of glacier ice, sent water, rocks and debris surging down the Dhauliganga river valley, destroying dams and bridges.