The Lhonak Lake in the mountainous northeastern state of Sikkim overflowed on Wednesday after a cloudburst triggered torrential rains and an apparent avalanche, causing major flooding in the Teesta river. Sikkim officials had put the death toll at 18 on Thursday evening. Officials in the neighbouring downstream state of West Bengal told Reuters that emergency teams recovered another 22 bodies that had been washed away. Relief teams are unable to reach the affected areas there," Tseten Bhutia, a state official, told Reuters by telephone. All bridges downstream of an NHPC (NHPC.NS) hydropower station Teesta-V have either been submerged or washed away, the Indian government said.

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Persons: Bhutia, Pradeep Kumar Barma, Jatindra, Shivam Patel, YP Rajesh, Michael Perry Organizations: Indian Army, India Army, REUTERS Acquire, Reuters, Mobile, Private, Military, India Meteorological Department, YP, Thomson Locations: Sikkim, KOLKATA, DELHI, Asia's, West Bengal, Nepal, Bhutan, China, Siliguri, Bhubaneswar