At least 150 people are estimated to have died after a Himalayan glacier burst, sending a huge flood of water and debris against two dams, officials said on Sunday.
Rescuers recovered two bodies as they fought to save the lives of workers at the dams in the Chamoli district, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said on Twitter.
“My prayers are for all the missing workers,” he wrote, adding that his main focus is on finding people who might be trapped in underground tunnels. He did not elaborate on where the tunnels might be.
A video shared by the Uttarakhand Police and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police showed a man being taken alive from one of the tunnels. It was not clear whether he was a worker or a local resident.
Rawat said 600 officials from the Indian army, the border police and the engineering task force were on hand to deal with the consequences.
Between 100 and 150 die, Om Prakash, Uttarakhand’s chief secretary, was quoted by the Times of India newspaper.
More than 50 people worked at one of the dams, the Rishiganga Hydroelectric Project, Uttarakhand police chief Ashok Kumar said at a news conference, adding that some people were rescued.
Authorities evacuated other dams to contain the water flowing from the flooded Alakananda River, he said. Both the Uttarakhand Police and Rawat tweeted that people with houses along the river are being evacuated.
Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi tweeted that the nation was praying for the safety of everyone in the region, while President Ram Nath Kovind also used the social media platform to say he was “deeply concerned“about the explosion of the glacier.
Video obtained by Reuters showed water gushing towards one of the dams, taking parts of it away. NBC News was unable to verify this independently. Social media videos, which NBC is also working to verify, showed floods and debris flowing through the area and the consequences of the floods.
Sanjay Singh Rana, who lives at the top of Raini’s village, told Reuters he saw a wall of dust, rock and water when an avalanche descended a river valley.
“It came very fast, there was no time to alert anyone,” he said. “We have no idea how many people are missing.”
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Uttarakhand, in the Himalayas, is subject to flash floods and landslides. In June 2013, record rains caused devastating floods that claimed nearly 6,000 lives.
This disaster was dubbed the “Himalayan tsunami” by the media due to torrents of water released in the mountainous area, which threw mud and stones, burying houses, sweeping buildings, roads and bridges.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Janhvi Bhojwani and Matteo Moschella contributed.