Dharamshala, 16th June: Heavy rains prompted flash floods that washed away a remote mountain camp in Bhutan on Wednesday, killing ten people and wounding five others, while storms in neighboring Nepal left seven others missing, according to authorities. When the floodwaters hit soon after midnight, the Bhutanese villagers who had been collecting cordyceps, a fungus used in medicine, were sleeping. Local media stated that their camp at Laya, some 60 kilometers north of Thimphu, had been washed away.
“Our sympathies are with the people of Laya today as we learn of the tragedy that befell a group of cordyceps collectors in the highland,” said Bhutan Prime Minister Lotay Tshering in a statement.
Two helicopters were dispatched to evacuate the injured, and military rescuers were on their way to the location, which is only accessible after 11 hours of walking from the nearest road. Every year, villagers in Bhutan and Nepal travel to high meadows to pick cordyceps, a mushroom with possible health benefits.
According to The Bhutanese newspaper, the peasants were camped along the side of a little brook between two tiny hills. The flood pouring down the creek is thought to have washed them away, according to the report.
Seven persons are missing in Nepal, according to Home Ministry official Dil Kumar Tamang, after overnight rains in Sindhupalchowk district, which borders China’s Tibet area, created flash floods in the Melamchi river, inundating dozens of homes. Several residents in Melamchi were claimed to have moved to higher ground with their belongings as army helicopters rescued those stranded in marooned dwellings, according to witnesses. Residents living beside the Narayani River, which flows into India as Gandak, were told to keep vigilant because the river was flowing above the danger mark.
As the yearly monsoon season begins, Nepal and Bhutan have been battered by severe rains for the past three days.
Image Courtesy: dhakatribune
Leave a Reply