Uttarakhand: 'The river swallowed them alive,' says survivor who lost nine relatives

Dehradun: The air force vowed today to press ahead with evacuations from Uttarakhand, a day after 20 airmen and paramilitary members were killed when their helicopter crashed during a rescue mission.

Soldiers, backed by some 60 helicopters, are leading the rescue of thousands of pilgrims and tourists still stranded after flash floods and landslides hit the Himalayan state, killing some 1,000 people.

Survivors have recounted harrowing stories of their loved ones plummeting to their deaths or being washed away in the deluge.

Shachi Dobhriyal said she watched helplessly as her family of nine was swept away by the waters, as she clung to a wooden bar in a hotel in Ram Bada, a base camp for pilgrims travelling to Kedarnath.

"What can I say? I lost my two children, husband, nephews and my in-laws. The river swallowed them alive," the 45-year-old told AFP from a hospital bed in Dehradun where she is being treated for trauma.

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Manish Kumar, 45, said he was trying to walk out of the remote Jungle Chatti area near Kedarnath shrine with his wife and six-year old son when a landslide hit the road.

"We were trying to cross one of the badly-damaged roads by foot two days after the rains struck," Kumar told AFP.

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"Suddenly there was a massive landslide. My wife fell into a deep gorge and I could do nothing to save her," he said, holding his son in his arms.

Kumar, who was eventually rescued by an army chopper and brought to Dehradun, refuses to return home in Jabalpur in the central state of Madhya Pradesh in case his wife is found.

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Officials said close to 100,000 people have been evacuated so far from the mountainous region but some 6,000 remain stranded. Bad weather has hampered rescue efforts in recent days but evacuations were stepped up on Wednesday as well as food and other aid drops to those stranded