Bodies of three Nepalese pilgrims recovered in Kedarnath Yatra route: Report

At least three Nepalese pilgrims were killed and eight others were missing after a flash flood swept away a hotel where they were staying near the Kedarnath temple area in Uttarakhand in India, a media report said here on Friday.

The bodies of at least three Nepalese pilgrims have been recovered while those of eight others continue to remain missing following the landslide that hit the Kedarnath Yatra route in Uttarakhand due to heavy rains on Thursday, Nepal's government-run Gorkhapatra daily reported.

Officials said that the landslide swept away the entire hotel where the Nepalese pilgrims were staying near the Kedarnath temple area.

"Among eleven people from Nepal, who went missing in the incident, three dead bodies have been recovered, and eight are still missing," Purna Singh Bohara, the chairman of Patasari Rural municipality, was quoted as saying in the report.

He said that all the three deceased Nepalese pilgrims were from the Patasari Rural municipality.

With the recovery of the three dead bodies of the Nepalese pilgrims, the toll from the landslide in the Kedarnath Yatra route touched 7 while 12 continued to remain missing. The flash flood was caused by the incessant rain.

Meanwhile, the Nepal Home Ministry's spokesperson Narayan Prasad Bhattarai has said that the government has received information regarding the tragedy and necessary efforts are being made to facilitate the rescue of the Nepalese nationals who went missing in the incident.

Nepal’s Kanchanpur district is adjacent to India's Uttarakhand.

He also said that a letter has also been dispatched to the Nepalese Foreign Ministry so as to make necessary coordination with the Indian authorities.