At least 16 people, including a policeman were killed and seven injured by electrocution after a transformer exploded in Chamoli in India’s Uttarakhand state.
The accident took place after the railing of a bridge was electrified by the blast on the banks of Alaknanda river late on Tuesday, police said.
The bridge is a part of the sewage treatment plant at the site of the Namami Gange project, the government's ambitious conservation mission involving the sacred Ganges.
“We got a call that a security guard had died of electrocution,” Chamoli police chief Pramendra Dobhal said. "When police reached the village, 22 people had been electrocuted and suffered severe injuries. Fifteen people died in hospital and seven are critical."
State chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said an inquiry would be set up to establish the cause.
“Extremely painful news was received of many casualties due to electrocution in Chamoli," he said. "Those injured in the accident have been sent to the nearest hospital for treatment. A magisterial inquiry has been ordered into this unfortunate incident."
The incident came after incessant rain had caused landslides and flash floods in many areas of the state.
Dozens of villages near Laksar and Khanpur in Haridwar district on the banks of the Ganges were flooded after torrential rain. The villages were without power for four days. Market areas were also flooded.
Flooding around the world - in pictures
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Collapsed houses after a landslide caused by heavy rain in Yecheon, South Korea. AP -
Flooded houses in Cheongju, South Korea. AP -
South Korean emergency workers search for survivors at a destroyed house in Yecheon. AFP -
People travel by boat on a flooded road in New Delhi. Bloomberg -
A person carries chickens in a cage on his head in New Delhi. Bloomberg -
A flooded area of New Delhi. Bloomberg -
Submerged vehicles in Wanzhou district, south-west China. EPA -
A flooded street in Wanzhou. EPA -
Stricken vehicles in Wanzhou. EPA -
An abandoned pickup truck lies in Vermont, US. EPA -
A collapsed road in Vermont. EPA -
Jodi Kelly, left, practice manager at the flooded Stonecliff Veterinary Surgical Centre in Vermont, and her husband, veterinarian Dan Kelly, move supplies. AP -
A submerged car in Zonguldak, Turkey. AP -
A damaged road in Zonguldak. AP -
Floods in Bartin, Turkey. AP -
Floods in Zaragoza, northern Spain. EPA -
Rincon del Soto in La Rioja, northern Spain. EPA -
A man wades through water in Rincon del Soto. EPA
There were reports of crocodiles making their way into residential areas in Laksar and Khanpur, with forest department staff capturing some and releasing them back into the rivers.
Authorities had deployed the National Disaster Response Force to carry out rescue and relief work.
The India Meteorological Department issued a warning of heavy rainfall and thunderstorms on Wednesday in all of Uttarakhand's 13 districts, and urged people not to go near streams, rivers or drains.
