1,000 feared dead as army mobilised

Thousands of Indian soldiers yesterday battled to reach villages and towns cut off by flash floods and landslides in the country's north as officials warned at least 1,000 people may have been killed.
Helicopters and close to 10,000 soldiers have been deployed to reach tourists and pilgrims stranded after floods caused by torrential monsoon rains hit the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand at the weekend.
The soldiers were mobilising to "provide leadership, succour, medical, air and engineer efforts", the army said in a statement.
Houses, buildings and vehicles have collapsed or been swept away by flooding rivers and landslides, while bridges and narrow roads have also been destroyed, leaving some 65,000 people stranded mainly at remote pilgrimage sites, officials said.
Torrential rains four and a half times as heavy as usual have hit Uttarakhand, known as the "Land of the Gods", where Hindu shrines and temples built high in the mountains attract many pilgrims.
One of those stranded was Indian cricket star Harbhajan Singh, who was attempting to reach a Sikh pilgrimage site but had to take refuge in a police station.
At least 138 people have been killed across Uttarakhand and two neighbouring states also hit by floods and landslides, officials said, but shrine authorities warned the toll was more than 1,000.
Over the border in Nepal, floods and landslides also triggered by the monsoon have left at least 39 people dead mostly in remote parts of the country, officials said.