NEW DELHI, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- As many as 12 bodies were retrieved during Sunday from the glacier burst site in north India, taking the total number of bodies recovered so far to 50, confirmed an official at the local disaster management office.
The disaster reportedly struck at around 10.00 hours (Indian Standard Time) on Feb. 7 in the northern hilly state of Uttarakhand leaving over 200 people, mostly workers at two hydro power projects, missing.
Five of the 12 dead bodies were recovered from inside a tunnel, where around 35 to 40 people were feared to have been stuck following the natural tragedy.
Only half of the bodies recovered could be identified and they were handed over to their respective families, added the official.
Most of the labourers who are missing hailed from several states, including Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand and a few from Nepal too.
Over the last couple of days, environmentalists have blamed the glacier burst on the large-scale and uncontrolled construction activities being in the hills over the years. Enditem
