Emergency teams in northern India are working Monday to rescue 37 power plant workers trapped in a tunnel after part of a Himalayan glacier broke away, slamming water and debris into a dam and at least two hydroelectric plants early Sunday.
Authorities say at least 18 bodies have been recovered, but more than 165 people are missing and feared dead.
More than 2,000 people have been deployed to the search-and-rescue operation in the valley, including members of the military and police.
The floods destroyed a hydroelectric plant on the Alaknanda river and damaged another on the Dhauli Ganga river. The two rivers flow out of the Himalayan mountains and meet before merging with the Ganges river.
The incident sent a massive amount of water and debris downhill, flooding the Dhauli Ganga River and forcing the evacuation of downstream villages.
Video from the area shows floods of gray glacial water and debris traveling through a valley and surging through the dam in the northern state of Uttarakhand.
Scientists have blamed global warming for the glacier’s catastrophic melting.
