Kedarnath landslides: Death toll climbs To 5, rescue operations continue

Bodies of four more pilgrims, including three women, were recovered on Tuesday from the debris of a landslide that occurred on the Kedarnath highway, taking the toll in the incident to five, officials said on Tuesday, 10 September.

The rescue operation, which was resumed at 5 am, concluded at 7.30 am, Ryudraprayag superintendent of police Akshay Konde told PTI.

The landslide occurred at Mankutiya along the five-km stretch between Sonprayag and Gaurikund at around 7.20 pm on Monday while a group of pilgrims was returning on foot from Kedarnath.

Traffic along the route had been restored only two-three days back after a 150-metre damaged stretch of the road was repaired. It had been demolished in a massive landslide on 31 July triggered by heavy rain.

Soon after the landslide on Monday, State Disaster Response Fund and National Disaster Response Fund personnel had launched a rescue operation and retrieved body of a pilgrim identified as Gopal (50) from Dhar in Madhya Pradesh besides rescuing three other pilgrims who were rushed to Sonprayag in an ambulance.

The injured pilgrims were identified as Jeewach Tiwari from Nepal, Manpreet Singh from West Bengal and Chagan Lal from Dhar district in Madhya Pradesh.

The rescue operation was hampered because of continuous rainfall and prevailing darkness on Monday night.

As rescue efforts were resumed on Tuesday morning, bodies of four more pilgrims, including three women, were pulled out of the debris.

The pilgrims were identified as Durgabai Khapar (50) from Ghat district in Madhya Pradesh, Titli Devi (70) from Vaidehi village of Nepal's Dhanwa district, Saman Bai (50) from Dhar, Madhya Pradesh and Bharat Bhai Niralal (52) from Surat, Gujarat.

Chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has expressed grief over the loss of lives in the incident.