1,500 tourists stranded in north Sikkim, search for 8 missing called off amid heavy rain

Nearly 1,500 tourists were stranded in various parts of north Sikkim as the main road was blocked due to landslides triggered by incessant rains, officials said.

On the other side, the search for the missing eight tourists was disrupted by heavy rain, and it was finally suspended on Saturday after the water level in the Teesta river increased, they said.

One person was killed, two injured and eight others went missing when a vehicle in which 11 tourists were travelling plunged into the Teesta river in Mangan district on Thursday night. The vehicle plunged more than 1,000 feet into the river near Munsithang along the Lachen-Lachung highway.

Mangan’s SP Sonam Detchu Bhutia said 115 tourists are stranded in Lachen and 1,350 tourists in Lachung.

“Since exit from both directions is closed due to landslides at multiple locations, the tourists have been advised to remain in their hotels, and once the roads are completely opened, they shall be shifted,” he said.

Incessant rainfall lashed the district throughout the day, especially the Chungthang sub-division, officials said                 Power supply, which was snapped on Friday afternoon, was restored this evening, while efforts are underway to restore the drinking water supply by Sunday, they said.

The mobile connectivity was restored after nearly 24 hours, around 3 pm, they said.

Due to heavy rainfall induced by cloud burst in the area, the water level in the river Teesta has increased, they added.

The Lachung road was restored this evening, but the road from Pegong (Chungthang) to Phidang via Shipgyer, Sangkalang is closed due to multiple landslides, an official said.

“No tourist permits have been issued today, and will also not be issued tomorrow for visiting north Sikkim,” he said.

Mangan’s District Collector Anant Jain said he is stationed at the site where the tourist vehicle plunged into the Teesta and is overseeing the rescue efforts.

The SP said, “A continuous heavy rainfall and a swollen Teesta river have hampered the search to locate the eight missing persons. The search will resume as soon as weather conditions improve.”

He said four identity cards and six mobile phones have been recovered by the search team from the river banks near the accident site.

Of the 11 persons on the ill-fated vehicle, two were identified as Swayam Supratim Nayak and Sairaj Jena, both from Odisha. They were rescued on the night of the accident and are undergoing treatment at the STNM Hospital in Gangtok.

“Search is still on for the remaining eight persons, which includes the driver of the vehicle, while one person was found dead,” the SP said.

Of the eight missing tourists, four are from Odisha and two each from Tripura and Uttar Pradesh, he said.

They were Ajit Kumar Nayak, Sunita Nayak, Sahil Jena and Itshiri Jena from Odisha, Debjyoti Joy Dev and Swapnanil Deb from Tripura, and Kaushalendra Pratap Singh and Ankita Singh from Uttar Pradesh, he added.

The driver was identified as Passang Denu Sherpa of Singhik in North Sikkim.