4 Friends From Ghaziabad Go Missing In Kedarnath After Cloudburst

A group of five friends from Ghaziabad, who had gone to Haridwar to collect 'Gangajal', had headed for Kedarnath, where they wanted to perform 'Jalabhishek'. After the cloudburst near Bhimtal on the night of July 31, four of them have gone missing.

New Delhi/Ghaziabad: Four youths from Ghaziabad are still missing after heavy rainfall and cloudburst triggered flooding in Kedarnath.

Those missing have been identified as Krishna Patel, Sumit Shukla, Mannu and Chirag. On July 29, a group of five friends from Khoda in Ghaziabad had gone to collect 'Gangajal' in Haridwar. They all had first gone to Haridwar and then suddenly left for Kedarnath.

Twenty-year-old Sumit Shukla had called his mother on July 30 and told her that they were going to Kedarnath, where they wanted to perform 'Jalabhishek'. He told that his four friends, Krishna, Mannu, Chirag and Sachin were accompanying him.

However, on August 1, Sumit's brother got a call from Sachin informing him that after the cloudburst near Bhimtal on the night of July 31, the four others have become untraceable. Till now, no information is available about Sumit, Krishna, Mannu and Chirag.

Sumit's family said that their son had gone to collect 'Gangajal'. He had told them that since four of his friends were going he too wanted to go with them. The family had allowed him as five of them were going together.

The youth had initially not told his family about visiting Kedarnath. It was a day before leaving for Kedarnath that he called up his mother on mobile and told her about performing 'Jalabhishek' there, a family member said.

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