MOSCOW, June 24 (RIA Novosti) - Officials in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand raised the estimated death toll of ongoing flash floods and landslides from 1,000 to 6,500, Al-Jazeera reported on Monday.
About 680 bodies have been recovered, according to previous media reports.
The army had to suspend rescue helicopter flights on Sunday because of heavy fog in the Himalayan region, where four days of incessant downpours last week caused numerous flash floods.
Uttarakhand is a popular pilgrimage destination with several important shrines, where thousands of pilgrims currently remain stranded, including nearly 27,000 people trapped in Kedarnath, one of the holiest Hindu temples.
Up to 50,000 people in 100 towns and villages in remote mountainous areas remain cut off as swollen rivers inundated roads and destroyed bridges, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said.
About 34,000 people have been evacuated from the affected areas in the largest-ever rescue effort by the Indian army. The rescue operation involves more than 8,000 servicemen, some 3,000 border guards and hundreds of police.
