Uttarakhand rains: 4 dead, 3 vehicles buried under debris, boulders fallen from hills

Debris and boulders are falling from high hills on the vehicles leading to closure of highways and roads at over seven places in Uttarakhand. Torrential rains threw life out of gear. Four persons died while three vehicles were buried under debris that fell from a steep hill when they were waiting at Gangnani due to the closure of road.

Uttarkashi (Uttarakhand): Due to torrential rains last night, the Gangotri Highway between Bhatwadi to Gangnani was blocked due to debris falling from the steep hills at about seven places. Three vehicles including a tempo traveller were buried and four people died when debris fell on them while waiting near Gangnani due to closure of the road.

In this incident, the four deceased included a woman. Six passengers were seriously injured in the accident. On the other hand, the SDRF (State Disaster Response Force) team has initiated rescue operations and six injured in the accident were sent to the hospital for treatment. CM Pushkar Singh Dhami has expressed grief over the accident. CM Dhami, in a tweet, said that three vehicles have been damaged in debris fall on the Uttarkashi-Gangotri Highway.

Relief and rescue work is going on as the district administration and SDRF are helping the injured. "I pray to God to give peace to the departed souls and for the speedy recovery of the injured. I request all the public to avoid unnecessary travel during these heavy rains," the CM said. On the other hand, on receiving information about the accident, disaster volunteer Rajesh Rawat single-handedly rescued several injured people.

BRO's OC Major VS Veenu said that the Gangotri Highway between Bhatwadi and Gangnani was blocked at seven places due to landslides and it was reopened after a lot of effort amid heavy rains. So far the bodies of three passengers have been taken out, while the body of one passenger is trapped in the vehicle stuck in debris. Efforts are being made to recover the body, sources said.

Due to the debris fall and continuous rains, the rescue work is getting affected. Normal life has been thrown out of gear due to incessant rains. Debris and boulders are continuously falling at many routes, which is causing accidents.