At least 40 people have been killed in flooding in the Indian Himalayan region, officials have said.
The flood began on Wednesday when the waters of the glacial South Lhonak lake breached a hydroelectric dam, triggering flash flooding in the mountainous Sikkim region of northeastern India.
As many as 22,000 people have been impacted by the flooding, which has hit towns and villages along the Teesta River in the Lachen Valley.
Officials in Sikkim put the death toll at 18 on Thursday, while in the neighbouring state of West Bengal, another 22 bodies were recovered downstream.
Rescue workers were searching for nearly 100 people, including 22 soldiers, on Thursday, according to the Sikkim state government.
The Indian army said it was planning to evacuate nearly 1,500 stranded tourists from the region, while 26 relief camps have been set up to aid residents in the region.
It is the latest deadly flood to hit northeast India in a year of unusually heavy monsoon rains.
Nearly 50 people died in flash floods and landslides in August in nearby Himachal Pradesh state, while record rains in July killed more than 100 people over two weeks in northern India.
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