5 army personnel missing after flash flood hits camp in Arunachal: Officials

The missing personnel have been identified as Havaldar Upendar and army personnel Kundan, Vinod, Aditya and Samunda

Five army personnel went missing after a flash flood on Friday washed away two shelters of an army camp in Arunachal Pradesh’s Dibang Valley district, the State Emergency Operations Centre (SEOC) said on Saturday.

In Dibang Valley, the flash flood struck Pasu Pani, around 25km beyond Mipi Circle, at about 4.30pm after a major stream suddenly swelled and inundated the surrounding area.

Superintendent of police Pankaj Kumar said seven army personnel were caught in the floodwaters after two shelters of the 5th Grenadiers at the Pasu Pani Army Camp were washed away. Two personnel were rescued, while five remained missing.

The missing personnel have been identified as Havaldar Upendar and army personnel Kundan, Vinod, Aditya and Samunda.

“SDRF [State Disaster Response Force], NDRF [National Disaster Response Force] and the district DDMO are currently engaged in the search and rescue operation,” Kumar said.

Two search and rescue teams of the 5th Grenadiers have also been deployed. Personnel from the 58th Battalion of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), 62 RCC of the General Reserve Engineer Force (GREF), Arunachal Pradesh Police and local volunteers are assisting the operation.

A 10-member SDRF team from Pasighat also joined the rescue effort. The extent of damage to the army camp and other infrastructure is yet to be assessed.

In a separate incident on Friday in Upper Subansiri, a landslide struck the Keojaring-Byaching road cutting site, burying several people under debris and claiming four lives, SEOC said.

Deceased are identified as Tadu Baki, Taji Rai, Markosh Basumatari and Babul Ali. Ali’s body has been recovered, while search and recovery operations are continuing, officials confirmed.

Personnel from Nacho police station have been deployed at the site, while Fire and Emergency Services personnel are being mobilised from Daporijo. An SDRF team is also assisting the operation, officials said.