Two persons were killed and more than 15 were missing after cloudbursts led to flash floods in Himachal Pradesh’s Kangra district on Wednesday, PTI reported.

Three persons were also swept away because of the flash floods in Kullu district.

In Kangra, Deputy Commissioner Hemraj Bairwa told The Indian Express that two bodies had been recovered in the district so far.

About 15 to 20 workers at a labour colony near the Indira Priyadarshini Hydroelectric project site at Khaniyara near Dharamshala were feared to have been swept away after a surge in the water level of the Manuni river, PTI quoted unidentified officials as saying.

The project work had been suspended following heavy rainfall and the workers were resting in temporary shelters near the site when the floodwater flowed towards the labour colony, the officials said. The workers were swept away in the surge, they added.

Dharamshala MLA Sudhir Sharma also said that about 15 to 20 workers had been swept away.

“All of them were living in sheds built along the banks of the khad,” the Bharatiya Janata Party said. “Such a heart-wrenching incident has perhaps never been witnessed before.”

Personnel from the State Disaster Response Force and the administration were carrying out search and rescue operations at the site, PTI reported.

Bairwa also told The Indian Express that efforts were being made to identify the persons who were washed away. “We have sought a detailed list of workers employed at the plant from the contractor concerned,” the newspaper quoted him as saying.

In Kullu district, incidents of cloudburst were reported in Banjar, Gadsa, Manikaran and Sainj, The Indian Express reported.

Deputy Commissioner Torul S Raveesh told the newspaper that “three persons went missing after cloudbursts in the areas of Banjar sub-division – Sainj valley – in Kullu”.

He added that two to three houses were also washed away.

The water level had also increased in several areas of the Manali sub-division, he said, adding that warnings had been issued.

Raveesh said that the State Disaster Response Authority was carrying out rescue operations in Kullu.

“We are also in constant touch with the National Disaster Response Force,” he said. “Our priority is to trace the missing people. Instructions have been issued to suspend water-sports activities in Kullu.”

Another unidentified official told The Indian Express that cloudbursts had been reported in the Brahmaganga region of the Manikaran valley, Gomti river area in the Gadsa valley, including Banjar and Sainj.

“Several other streams, including the Jeeva Nala in the Sainj valley, also experienced cloudbursts, causing significant damage,” the official said. “In Jeeva Nala, the cloudburst washed away sheds belonging to National Hydroelectric Power Corporation.”

In light of the weather conditions, the Himachal Pradesh Police issued an advisory instructing its personnel to be alert and activate emergency response teams, The Indian Express reported. It also directed officials to inspect vulnerable locations and share emergency contacts with the public.