Headlines below the fold

6000 are still missing after floods last month in India...many were pilgrims to Himalayan shrines where there were mudslides etc. from the rain.

and the story includes this fact:

The disaster, dubbed a "Himalayan tsunami" by officials and media, prompted one of the largest airlifts in the history of the Indian air force, as helicopters flew hundreds of sorties to rescue residents and pilgrims and drop thousands of kilograms of relief material.

More than 100,000 people were rescued by the air force and security force personnel on the ground, officials said. — Reuters

Wikipedia summary here.

this UKMail article discusses the helicopter pilots who risked their lives delivering aid and says 11.800 were rescued by them. Some of the pilots died. The article includes a map and many photos.

For Wing Commander D. Castalino, Flight Lieutenant Praveen, Flight Lieutenant T. Kapoor, Junior Warrant Officer A.K. Singh and Sergeant Sudhakar, Barrackpore was home, their posting in Eastern Command's 157 Helicopter Unit. All five died on Tuesday, in the IAF's first recorded crash of the extraordinarily sturdy Russian-made Mi-17 helicopter.
But they didn't die in or around Barrackpore. And they certainly didn't die in vain. They died more than 10,000 feet above sea level, felled by a dense cloud in Uttarakhand's Kedarnath valley while returning from a rescue mission.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-2348391/The-great-Indian-airlift-Air-Force-heroes-rescue-11-800-flash-flood-victims-promise-stranded-Our-rotors-wont-stop-turning-till-out.html#ixzz2Z8WawKoY