Sikkim flash flood: Toll rises to 21, searches on for 118 missing people
Gangtok (PTI): The toll in the flash flood in Sikkim mounted to 21 on Friday as Army and NDRF teams worked their way through slushy earth and fast flowing water in the Teesta river basin and downstream north Bengal for the third day in search of those who were swept away and are still missing, officials said.
Of the 23 army personnel who were missing from Burdang area, the bodies of seven have been recovered from different areas downstream while one was rescued and the search is on for 15 missing jawans, Chief Minister P S Tamang said.
A total of 118 people, including the 15 jawans, remained missing after a cloudburst over Lhonak Lake in North Sikkim in the early hours of Wednesday triggered the flash flood.
So far, 2,411 people have been evacuated and accommodated at relief camps, while the calamity has affected over 22,000 people, the Sikkim State Disaster Management Authority (SSDMA) said in its latest bulletin.
The flash flood in the Teesta River, triggered by the cloudburst in Lhonak Lake, caused accumulation of huge quantity of water, which turned towards Chungthang Dam destroying the power infrastructure before moving downstream in spate, flooding towns and villages.
The flood destroyed 13 bridges in the state, with eight bridges getting washed away in Mangan district alone. Three bridges were destroyed in Gangtok and two in Namchi.
Of the civilian deaths, six were reported in Gangtok, and four each in Mangan and Pakyong.
A total of 103 civilians were missing after the incident. Of them, 59 people were reported missing in Pakyong, 22 in Gangtok, 17 in Mangan and five in Namchi.
Chungthang town bore the maximum brunt of the flood with 80 per cent of it getting severely affected. The NH-10, considered the lifeline of the state, sustained extensive damage at several places.
Meanwhile, the search for the remaining 15 missing army personnel is underway downstream near Teesta barrage.
At the site of the incident in Burdang, army vehicles have been dug out and stores were recovered, a defence release said, adding tracker dogs and special radars have been deployed in the search operations.
It said that the army has been able to take account of 1,471 tourists stranded in Lachen, Laching and Chungthang areas.
With the weather improving on Friday, there may be a window of opportunity for evacuation of the stranded tourists by helicopters, it said.
Surveys are being carried out by all agencies to assess the damage and plan restoration of road connectivity. The road link between Singtam and Burdang has been restored with the clearing of a single lane for vehicular traffic, the release said.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
