August 10, 2003	Sunday	Jumadi-us-Sani 11, 1424

SHIMLA, Aug 9: Rescue personnel on Saturday scoured the hills near an Indian ski resort in a search of survivors after a flash flood claimed at least 27 lives, police said.

The rescue team, which included the paramilitary Indo-Tibetan Border Force, sifted through boulders and mud as they resumed the search at Solan Nallah, near the Himalayan tourist haven Manali, a police official said.

Another police official said one more body had been recovered on Saturday, raising the death toll to 27, while another 13 people were still missing.

“Only one body has been recovered from the debris today, raising the number of bodies recovered to 27,” another police official said.

He said the searchers had been scouring the entire area where the cloudburst occurred up to the river Beas into which the torrential waters could have washed away the missing.

About 250 labourers were sleeping at a construction site for a tunnel when the floods struck on Thursday.

Some media reports put the death toll at 40 or higher and said many labourers could have been washed away by the powerful currents.

Tributaries of major rivers have been swollen by floods in the lower areas of Himachal Pradesh state and the rains have caused landslides in many places.—AFP