SHARE PRICES RECOVER MONDAY Kathmandu, 24 June: Nepse closed at 488.93 points after equities gained 1.4 points Monday on the second day of five-day weekly trading. Altogether 386,010 shares were traded for Rs.70.471 million in 1094 transactions. Commercial bank and hydro power shares gained 2.96 points. Nnnn MASS CREMATION OF INDIA FLOOD VICTIMS Kathmandu, 24 June: Indian priests were preparing to cremate hundreds of flood victims on Monday as heavy rains halted the helicopter search for thousands of tourists stranded in the devastated Himalayan region, officials said, AFP reports from New Delhi. Some 1,000 people were feared dead and more than 8,000 mainly pilgrims and tourists were still awaiting rescue nine days after flash floods and landslides hit the state of Uttarakhand. So far 580 bodies have been found after torrential monsoon rains struck the mountainous region, known as the "Land of the Gods" for its revered Hindu shrines. "Many more bodies are yet to be pulled out from isolated areas that are completely cut-off," disaster management official K.N. Pandey told AFP. Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde warned that the death toll could rise above 1,000 once flood waters have receded and debris is cleared by emergency workers, showing the full extent of the disaster. "Reports suggested the toll was around 1,000, but it could rise as the debris is cleared," Shinde told reporters in New Delhi. Preparations were under way for a mass cremation in the flood-ravaged holy town of Kedarnath and elsewhere, with rescue workers ordered to collect tonnes of fire wood, amid concerns of an outbreak of disease from rotting bodies, officials said. "The priests of temples have been requested to participate in the final rites," Pandey said. Military helicopters have been grounded because of bad weather, hampering the evacuation of people still stranded, many without food and water. "We can only use the helicopters when the weather is clear. Rescue work can only resume when rains stop," said a senior army official in New Delhi. Helicopters and thousands of soldiers have been deployed to help with the rescue efforts, with thousands of people already evacuated since the rains hit on June 15. Soldiers along with the Indo-Tibetan Border Police have been using harnesses and erecting rope bridges across flooded rivers as part of efforts to move people to safety. A group of 14 Spanish mountaineers stuck for four nights in heavy snow at Kalindi Pass high in the Himalayas were reported to be among those rescued and airlifted to the state capital Dehradun. The climbers were just below the pass at 5,946 metres (19,507 feet) when they were pinned down by snow, the Times of India said. Raging rivers have swept away houses, buildings and even entire villages in the state, which was packed with travellers in what is a peak tourist season. More than 1,000 bridges have been damaged along with roads, cutting off hard-hit villages and towns. In some rare good news from the disaster area, an army medical team reached an isolated village in time to help deliver two babies on Sunday, the Press Trust of India (PTI) reported. The team trekked almost 15 kilometres to reach Tijan village before assisting two pregnant women and calling for a helicopter to drop a female doctor into the area to help with the deliveries. "The newborns and their mothers are in good health," Lieutenant General Vinod Bhatia said. Fourteen stranded American tourists were evacuated on Monday as part of an air rescue operation in the adjacent state of Himachal Pradesh, where 20 people have been killed, PTI said. Floods and landslides from monsoon rains have also struck neighbouring Nepal, leaving at least 39 people dead, according to the government in Kathmandu. The monsoon, which covers the subcontinent from June to September, usually brings flooding. But the heavy rains arrived early this year, catching many by surprise and exposing a lack of preparedness. nnnn