Flash floods: special control room set up for foreigners
By IANSTuesday, August 10, 2010
NEW DELHI - India’s external affairs ministry has set up a special control room to provide information to relatives of foreigners who may have been affected by the flash floods in and around Leh town in Jammu and Kashmir.
“Information about Indians and foreign nationals who have sadly lost their lives, have been injured or stranded in different parts, is being collated by agencies involved in rescue and relief effort,” the ministry said here Tuesday.
The special control room may be contacted for information relating to foreign nationals affected by the flash floods, it said.
The control room’s telephone numbers are: 23012113 and 23015300. Queries can also be sent via fax (23018158) or e-mailed to controlroom@mea.gov.in.
The toll in the catastrophic flash floods caused by Friday’s cloudburst in Leh town of Jammu and Kashmir has risen to 165. As many as 81 foreign tourists were rescued by the Indian Air Force from Zanskar Valley of Ladakh region, police said.
The cloudburst occurred at Choglamsar village, which is situated above Leh town, causing flash floods and mudslides that washed away government offices, paramilitary camps and residential homes.
