Srinagar, Sep 10 (IANS): More than 50,000 people have been rescued so far, but hundreds are still trapped here as the flood waters receded Wednesday. Officials said 215 people have died in the Jammu and Kashmir floods.

"Unless the flood waters recede completely, and we are able to reach all the submerged areas, we cannot be sure about the exact toll in these floods," a top state official said.

Many are trapped in the Srinagar city alone that submerged in flood waters during the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday.

Officials said 50,000 marooned people have been rescued so far in the state, but they also confirmed Wednesday that many more could still be trapped in submerged areas.

The water level of the river Jhelum continued to recede here and throughout the Kashmir Valley Wednesday.

A rescue operation is on since Sunday afternoon in over two dozen residential areas of the Srinagar city.

All the rescued people narrated stories of the worst nightmare of their lives. They said the cries for help of many others in their areas had stopped, indicating they had either died or had resigned to their fate and knew the chances of their survival were bleak.