Himachal: 9 of two families take refuge on house's roof to escape flash floods; 1 dies, 8 missing

Nine members of two families, who took refuge on the roof of a house to escape flash floods triggered by heavy rains, were swept away in Himachal Pradesh's Mandi district, their relatives said on Wednesday. The incident took place at Pangloor village of Sainj panchayat in Gohar area on intervening night of Monday and Tuesday. One body has been recovered while eight others including two children are still missing, the relatives said. The death toll in cloudbursts and flash flood-related incidents in the Mandi district rose to 11 on Wednesday with the recovery of six more bodies. The search for 34 missing people is underway, officials said.

In the Pangloor village incident, the body of a woman, identified as Devku Devi (70), was recovered while eight others including her husband Padam Dev (75) were untraced.

The other missing persons have been identified as Jhabe Ram (50), Parvti Devi (47), Surabhi Devi (70), Inder Dev (29), Umawati (27), Kanika (9) and Gautam (7).

Padam Dev's son Tilak Raj, who lives at another house in Bagha along with his wife and children, on Wednesday said that his parents got stuck in the Sainj house due to heavy rains. ''Our cultivable land is in Sainj. My parents were residing there,'' he said.

''As incessant rains continued, my parents and Jhabe Ram's family climbed the roof but the house was washed away,'' he lamented.

The flash floods also washed away some cattle and cowshed, he added.

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