The army on Thursday continued its search operations to trace 22 missing soldiers and extend help to the stranded civilians, amid claims by some state government officials in Jalpaiguri that bodies of four suspected army personnel were among those recovered from the Teesta's downstream.

Senior officers from the Eastern Command of the Indian Army said troops of the Trishakti Corps had been engaged since early on Thursday to trace the missing soldiers based in the army base camp in Lachen valley.

"The search for the missing soldiers was focused in and around areas that are downstream of the Teesta river. Its waters have started subsiding and hopefully we can trace the missing now," said a senior officer of the command.

Within hours of 23 soldiers reported missing since Wednesday morning, the army rescue team from the Corps managed to trace one of them by late evening.

The family members of the missing have been contacted and informed, said an army release, adding that the other army personnel who were posted in Sikkim and north Bengal were safe.

In Jalpaiguri, senior officials of the district administration said out of the bodies recovered on Thursday from the river’s downstream, four were suspected to be those of the missing soldiers.

However, Eastern Command refused to comment on the claim.

On Wednesday, an army outfit — fatigues — was recovered from the river. Towards Thursday afternoon, some army vehicles from among 41 reported missing in Burdang near Singtam, were recovered from thick slush. On Wednesday, 41 army vehicles were buried under the slush that the mighty Teesta carried from its upstream.

“Excavators were engaged to clear the slush. Vehicles retrieved are substantially damaged in the flash flood,” said a source.

In Sikkim's Mangan district, the army extended medical aid and telephone connectivity to residents and tourists stranded in Chungthang, Lachung and Lachen.

Explosives alert

The flash flood, which had hit defence installations in parts of Sikkim, the state that sits on the India-China border, is also suspected to have flown away firearms, ammunition, explosives and other devices.

State land revenue and disaster management department of Sikkim issued an advisory to people across Sikkim.

“The local population are hereby warned that explosives or ammunition etc., may be found along the Teesta basin. These ammunition should not be handled or picked up since they may explode and cause grievous injuries,” reads the advisory issued by Anil Raj Rai, the relief commissioner of Sikkim.

If any such device is sighted, people should inform the district collectors or the state’s emergency operations centre, it said.

At a government school in Sirwani, members of the Brahmastra Corps came together to offer relief and medical aid to close to 250 civilians who were stranded in the aftermath of the flood.