Protima Bedi8217;s body found

DHARCHULA, Aug 22: The bodies of eight men and one woman were airlifted from Malpa today, the site of the landslide that claimed 40 lives early this week.Six injured were also brought to the health centre at Dharchula, where they were given immediate medical attention.

Five days after the tragedy, for the first time the sky cleared today, enabling 26 sorties to move from Dharchula to Malpa, the Kumaon Scout sources said.

Nine bodies are waiting to be heli-lifted at Malpa, but they are so badly decomposed that it is difficult to identify if they are male or female.

Meanwhile, agencies report from Bareilly that the Indo-Tibetan Border Police chief Gautam Kaul has confirmed that dancer Protima Bedi was dead. Her body had been recovered from Malpa village, he said. The body, he said, will be handed over to her relatives tomorrow.