By Our Staff Reporter
Rudraprayag, 10 Sep: Late last evening, eight pilgrims returning from Kedarnath were trapped in the debris that had fallen from atop the hill near Sonprayag. Of these, 5 are reported to have died while the three are injured. After the landslide in the landslide prone zone near the Power Station in Sonprayag along the trek to Kedarnath, the stones and debris continued falling from the hill for a long time.
On receiving the information, SDRF and NDRF teams led by Sub Inspector Ashish Dimri carried out the rescue operation late last evening, and one body was recovered. This person has been identified as Gopal (50), son of Bhaktram, and a resident of Madhya Pradesh. However, bad weather and continued landslide halted the rescue operation last evening, which resumed this morning.
During the rescue operation carried out today, four more bodies were recovered from under the debris. In addition, three persons are reported to be seriously injured and are presently under treatment. It is also reported that the track, which was damaged yesterday near Sonprayag, has been restored for movement of the pilgrims. According to the local administration, the landslide occurred after heavy rains in the area last evening.
ADM Shyam Singh Rana shared today with the media that last evening around 7:30 p.m., information was received that some pilgrims returning from Gaurikund to Sonprayag were buried under debris that had fallen due to landslide, one kilometre before Kotwali Sonprayag. A joint rescue operation was carried out by the police, administration, SDRF, NDRF and DDRF. During the rescue, 3 persons were taken out in injured condition late at night while one person was found unconscious who was declared dead by the doctors. Rana further shared that due to bad weather and continuous falling of debris and stones at night, the rescue teams had to stop the rescue work. The district police had completely stopped the movement after 6:30 p.m. in view of the safety of the passengers. This accident happened with those people who were returning from Gaurikund to Sonprayag.
District Disaster Management Officer Nandan Singh Rajwar said that the rescue work was resumed by the rescue teams early this morning. Three people, including 2 women, were found unconscious at this place, but were declared dead by the doctors. During the rescue operation, after some time, the rescue teams found 1 more woman in unconscious state and she was also declared dead by the doctors, taking the total number of deaths to 5 and number of those injured to 3. The blocked road has been made operational for pedestrian movement. The passengers are being safely sent towards Sonprayag under the supervision of security forces.
Among those dead are three from Dhar in Madhya Pradesh, one person from Nepal and one from Surat in Gujarat. While one injured person is from Dhar in Madhya Pradesh, one is from Dhanwa in Nepal and one from West Bengal.
