Rudraprayag: A total of four deaths have occurred within three days of Kedarnath Dham's opening for devotees back on May 6. The deceased include one man and three women. While three died due to ill health, one of the deaths occurred after a pilgrim fell into a gorge, said an official.
Around 41,000 devotees visited the holy site during these three days. Soni Chhaya Ben (47), a resident of Gujarat, who had returned to Sonprayag from Kedarnath in view of suddenly deteriorating health, died in Rudraprayag during treatment. Urmila Garg (67) from Uttar Pradesh's Bulandshahr and Dilsha Ram (67) from Madhya Pradesh have passed away similarly due to ill health.
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The bodies of Garg and Ram were handed over to relatives after post-mortem. Ramesh Saini, another devotee, died while on his way from Kedarnath to Gaurikund when he slipped and fell into a gorge close to 150-meters in depth. Saini (47) was found dead by an SDRF team led by Sub Inspector Karan Singh which initiated a search mission after descending into the gorge. The body was handed over to state police.
Confirming the deaths, District Disaster Management Officer Nandan Singh Rajwar said, "So far four pilgrims have died during the Kedarnath Yatra, in which three female pilgrims fell ill in Kedarnath and one male pilgrim fell into a gorge near Sonprayag. Exactly what caused the death of the female pilgrims is not yet clear. The situation will gain clarity after the post-mortem report comes."
