Three French nationals,an Italian and a Spaniard were among 23 foreigners killed in the cloudburst and flash floods that devastated Leh last Friday,even as many injured,including security personnel,were on Tuesday flown out of the region by the IAF. The toll in the tragedy has risen to 166,with 400 people still missing,official sources said. Three French citizens - Augavelis Henri,Hellot Jacques and Daniel Hauri,an Italian identified as Riccardo Titton and Maromas Maria Lousdes from Spain have been declared dead,they said. Sixteen of the others killed are from Nepal,and two were Tibetans. 16 of those killed from Nepal are Nema Zangmo,Tsering Neklal,Bakta Bahadur,Kama Lama,Ajay Raina,Khunchok Gelak,Lakpa Gyalmo,Shekhar,Mahurdin Ansari,Manee Patel,Ramesh Patel,Narai Badur Sume,Santosh Kumar,Nel Badur,Saryanareyan Chaudhary and Anil Chaudhary. Meanwhile,73 people,including 49 security personnel,who were injured following the cloudburst,were brought to Udhampur from Leh for treatment in an IL-76 transport aircraft Tuesday morning,Group Captain P M Vithalkar said. A special control room has been set up in the Ministry of External Affairs to streamline the collection and dissemination of information on the affected foreigners . Information about Indians and foreign nationals who have lost their lives,have been injured or are stranded in different parts,is being collated by agencies involved in rescue and relief effort, the ministry said. Even as massive relief and rescue operations continued,the state Revenue Department has begun a painstaking exercise to gauge the extent of economic damage suffered by the district. What we feel is that 40 per cent of our infrastructure,which is irrigation canals,link roads and bridges,has been destroyed. Another 40 per cent has been partially damaged. May be 20 per cent is intact, Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council chairman Chering Dorjay said. He said the cloudburst has severely affected agriculture. We now have a standing crop but all the irrigation canals have been washed away especially the headworks, he said. Even at a rough estimate,it will take a minimum of two years for the district to be rebuilt,he said. The Leh calamity figured in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday,with two Congress members from Jammu and Kashmir requesting the Centre to ensure all support in rehabilitation of the affected. Calamity has struck Ladakh. Thousands are still missing, Lal Singh said during the Zero Hour. Noting that the Centre had announced an ex-gratia relief of Rs 1 lakh to those killed,he said it was not enough. His party colleague from the state Madan Lal Sharma also raised the issue. BJP leader L K Advani asked his party MPs to donate Rs 10,000 from their salary for relief to the victims and suggested the MPLAD funds be diverted for rehabilitation and rebuilding of the region. In the BJP Parliamentary Party meeting on Tuesday,Advani suggested that all MPs should give Rs 10,000 from their salary to Sangh Parivars Sewa Bharti which is active in providing relief to the people affected in Leh, BJP Deputy Leader in Rajya Sabha,S S Ahluwalia, said in New Delhi. Several labourers from Chhattisgarh working in the region,are reported missing while seven were found dead,the party said. Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh has promised all help to bring the survivors back to their state and provide relief to the families of the dead.
