Uttarakhand landslide: 5 pilgrims killed, 3 others injured on Kedarnath route

Dehradun: Bodies of four more persons, including three women, were recovered on Tuesday from the debris of a landslide that trapped pilgrims on the Kedarnath Dham Yatra route in Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand, taking the death toll in last evening's incident to five, officials said.

The pilgrims killed in the incident are mostly from Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. One of the victims is also from Nepal.

An official said the death toll has risen to five while three others were injured.

Those killed are: Gopal, son of Bhaktram; Durgabai Khapar, wife of Sanghan Lal; Bharat Bhai, Niralal son of Niralal Patel; and Samanbai, wife of Shalak Ram. They are all aged 50. A 70-year-old woman, Rajendra Mandal, from village Vaidehi, District Dhanwa, Nepal, was also among the deceased.

Additional District Magistrate of Rudraprayag Shyam Singh Rana said around 7.30 pm on Monday information was received that some pilgrims coming from Gaurikund to Sonprayag were trapped under the debris after landslide area towards Gaurikund, about 1 km from Sonprayag, under Kotwali Sonprayag area.

On receiving the information, a joint rescue operation was carried out by the police, administration, SDRF, NDRF, and DDRF.

During the operation, three individuals were rescued in injured condition late at night, while one was found unconscious and declared dead by doctors.

He said that due to bad weather and debris and stones kept falling in the night, posing challenges for the rescue team.

According to Rana, rescue teams started the rescue work again in the early hours of Tuesday. Three people, including, 2 women and 1 man, were found unconscious at this site and were later declared dead by the doctors.

During the rescue operation, rescue teams later discovered another unconscious woman who was declared dead by doctors, raising the toll to 5.

Additional District Magistrate Rana said that apart from this, Jeevach Tiwari, son of Ramcharit, resident of Dhanwa Nepal, age 60; Manpreet Singh, son Kashmir Singh, resident of West Bengal, age 30; and Chhaganlal, son Bhakt Ram, resident of Rajot, District Dhar, Madhya Pradesh, age 45, have been rescued in injured condition. They are being treated in the hospital.

Rudraprayag's District Disaster Management Officer Nandan Singh Rajwar stated that the movement was completely halted by the district police at 6.30 pm for the safety of the travellers. This mishap happened with those people who had gone from Gaurikund to Sonprayag before this closure.

The blocked route has been reopened for pedestrian movement, and travellers are being safely sent towards Sonprayag under the supervision of security forces, he said.