Five Kedarnath Pilgrims Die as Car Struck by Landslide Debris in Uttrakhand

The 5 pilgrims, 3 of whom were from Gujarat, were murdered in a landslide after their vehicle was struck by a pile of stones on the highway between Guptkashi and Gaurikund.

Also Read:  Four Minors Detained in Kokrajhar, Assam, on Suspicion of Rape and Threats Against a Girl

According to news outlet PTI, at least five pilgrims—three of them were from Gujarat—were killed on Thursday night in Uttarakhand's Rudraprayag area after a car carrying them to Kedarnath was buried beneath landslide debris.

On the Guptkashi-Gaurikund route, the landslide happened at Tarsali close to Phata and washed away a 60-meter section of the road. A car carrying pilgrims to the sacred Kedarnath temple was struck by a pile of rocks and boulders that fell off the mountain between Phata and Sonprayag.

The State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) started a rescue operation as soon as they learned about the tragedy, but the rain made things difficult. When the weather cleared on Friday, they said that five bodies had been extracted from the wreckage of the car.

According to the authorities, the deceased has been named as Jigar R. Modi, Mahesh Desai, Parik Divyansh from Gujrat, Mintu Kumar, and Manish Kumar from Haridwar.

When the rescue effort resumed on Friday, the bodies and the wrecked Swift Dzire were rescued from the landslide debris, according to Nandan Singh Rajwar, a district disaster management official for Rudraprayag.

A man went missing in a landslide a few days ago, and numerous bridges were damaged, cutting off a significant portion of the population from the rest of the state. In the meantime, state chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami conducted a ground assessment of the rain-affected Kotdwar district.

In response to the nonstop rain, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued an "orange" advisory for heavy rain in six districts on Friday and a "red" alert for the following three days across the hill state.

Data from the State Emergency Operation Center shows that thus far during this monsoon, 58 people have died, 37 people have been injured, and 19 more are missing in various situations.

OTT India updates you with the latest news, Country’s no.1 digital news platform OTT India, Keeps you updated with national, and international news from all around the world. For more such updates, download the OTT India app on your Android and IOS device.