First bodies recovered from Indian flood disaster tunnel

TAPOVAN, India: Rescuers on Sunday pulled the first bodies from a blocked tunnel at a power complex in a northern Indian valley devastated by a flash flood a week ago, where 161 people remain missing.

Scores were killed in Uttarakhand state when the deluge -- thought to have been triggered by a chunk of glacier sliding down a mountainside or a glacial lake breaching its banks -- swept down the Rishiganga valley in minutes, destroying roads, bridges and buildings.

Amid warnings that river levels could rise again, the corpses of three victims were retrieved from the tunnel, where at least 30 people are thought to have been trapped by mud and rocks. Initially there were hopes that those inside might still be alive in air pockets.