Meghalaya dam toll touches nine, six workers still missing

SHILLONG: The death toll in the flood fury at the under-construction Myntdu-Leshka hydroelectric project in Meghalaya rose to nine even as rescue operations are on to trace six missing workers.

"Two more bodies were recovered yesterday. Six workers are still untraced and search is on to find them," Jaintia Hills district SP MK Singh said on Wednesday.

One of the bodies, apparently washed away by the flooding waters of Myntdu river was recovered from Kharkhana village bordering Bangladesh.

Out of the nine bodies recovered, six workers are from Assam, two from Madhya Pradesh and one from Meghalaya.

Meanwhile, clearing of the debris from the power-house is still in progress.

Last Thursday, incessant rains triggered a sudden rise in water level leading to overflow from the dam tunnel as well as landslides in the vicinity of the under-construction project.