Himachal Rains Live Updates: At least 60 killed amid rain fury in state; rescue ops underway

Amid rain fury in Himachal Pradesh, at least 60 people have been killed, according to Chief Minister’s Office (CMO). Meanwhile, as many as 13 bodies have been recovered from the site of the collapsed Shiv Bawari temple in the Summer Hills area of Shimla in Himachal Pradesh, officials said. Locals have estimated that there can be 21 bodies at the site, DS Rajput 14 NDRF second in command was quoted as saying by ANI, even as rescue operations continued on Wednesday.

The state in unlikely to get respite from the heavy rains, with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecasting heavy to very heavy rainfall and issuing a red alert for Wednesday. All schools and colleges in the state would remain closed for the day. On Tuesday, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu held a meeting to review the prevailing condition in the state and pressed that the state government is fully committed to expediting restoration efforts on a priority basis.

Meanwhile, in another rain-ravaged hill state, Uttarakhand, two more bodies were recovered on Tuesday while seven people are still missing. The body of a woman, who went missing after water from rain-fed Pawar gushed into villages in Uttarkashi district, was found on Tuesday while a 14-year-old girl’s body was found from a swollen stream in the Lakshman Jhula area of Rishikesh.