India Flooding, Landslides Cause 600 Deaths as Stranded Begin to Starve

Flooding and landslides in northern India have claimed the lives of at nearly 600 people as the death toll continued to rise throughout the week.

Early and abnormally heavy monsoon rains caused the Ganges Rivers and some of its tributaries to flood, triggering landslides that killed or trapped hundreds, while tens of thousands have been left stranded.

The Himalayan state of Uttrakhand was among the worst affected regions. People in scores of towns and villages have been stranded by flooding and landslides since Sunday. Roads and bridges have either been washed away by the floodwater or made impassible by landslides.

Uttrakhand state Chief Minister Vijay Bahguna said 556 bodies have been observed trapped in muddy slush caused by the disasters and rescue crews are trying to recover them, the Associated Press reported. Rakesh Sharma, another state official, said that the death toll may reach into the thousands, but exact figures would remain unknown until the entire region has been checked.

At least 27,000 people were reported stranded in the Kedarnath temple area. As one of the holiest Hindu temples, the site is a destination thousands of pilgrims. The temple reportedly escaped major damage, but the AP reported that bodies of pilgrims were strewn about the area.

In a grim twist to the already tragic story, there are now reports of disaster victims dying of starvation.

Lalit Pant, a football coach from Meerut, told the Hindustan Times that as he and his family trekked through the forest for six days after being stranded he saw about 1,000 corpses were lying along the jungle route from Kedarnath to Ukhimath. Most of them had died of hunger and dehydration, he told the Times.

So far, about 34,000 people have been rescued, but approximately 50,000 more total remain trapped throughout the affected areas, the Hindustan Times reported.

As inclement weather is expected by the weekend, officials plan to increase rescue and relief operations. An additional 13 helicopters were brought into action by the Indian Air Force, bringing the total number of rescue choppers to 43, the Times reported.

"We have a window of 48 hours to do rescue and relief work," before the weather turns bad, Air Marshal S.B. Deo told the Times.