India flood survivors crowd into camps

PURNIA, India, Aug. 31 (UPI) -- Nearly a half-million Indian families displaced by a river dam breach were crowded into refugee camps with little food or clean water, officials said Sunday.

The Indian government told CNN 450,000 families were uprooted in Bihar state when the River Kosi, which separates India from Nepal, burst through a breach in a retaining wall and spilled onto thousands of villages. Survivors were stranded on strips of dry land, making it difficult for rescuers to reach the camps with desperately needed supplies.

Some of the estimated 1.4 million flooding victims were trudging through knee- and waist-deep water to reach the camps, carrying their children in their arms and their belongings on their heads, CNN reported.

Death estimates from the disaster vary, but U.N. officials say at least 55 people have died so far with almost 250,000 homes destroyed. Some 70,000 people in Nepal were also said to have been displaced.