KOLKATA: At least 40 people were killed after a glacial lake burst its banks and triggered flash floods this week in the Indian Himalayas, government officials told Reuters on Friday as rescuers searched for dozens still missing.

The Lhonak Lake in the mountainous Sikkim state overflowed on Wednesday, causing major flooding that authorities said had impacted the lives of 22,000 people.

It is the latest deadly weather event in South Asia’s mountains being blamed on climate change.

Sikkim officials had put the death toll at 18 on Thursday evening.

Officials in the neighbouring downstream state of West Bengal told Reuters that emergency teams recovered another 22 bodies that had been washed away.

Nearly two dozen Indian troops missing after flash flood

The Indian army said it is planning to evacuate nearly 1,500 stranded tourists using helicopters as weather in the region improves.