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Jaiambey / Wikimedia Commons
Nanda Devi Peak.
Some 150 people are feared to have died after part of a mountain glacier broke, causing a massive flood of water, mud and debris in the lower areas and damaging homes and a power plant in India.
A portion of the Nanda Devi glacier broke in the Tapovan area of the northern state of Uttarakhand on Sunday morning (local time), damaging the Rishiganga water power project, said police officer Rishi Khemka.
At least 150 people were working at the plant and their fate was unknown, the Press Trust of India news agency reported, citing Ridhim Aggarwal, an official with the State Disaster Response Force.
Ravi Bejaria, a government spokesman, said some houses were also damaged by the floods.
Authorities said the glacier breach sent water trapped behind it, as well as mud and other debris that fell from the mountain and other bodies of water. A notice was issued urging people living on the banks of the Alaknanda River to move to safer places immediately.
Several teams of rescuers were taken to the affected area, authorities said.
In 2013, more than 1,000 people died in Uttarak, and heavy rains caused landslides and floods that washed away thousands of homes and roads and cut communication links in many parts of the state.
