Uttarakhand: Two tourists die after being hit by boulders in landslide

Two tourists from Hyderabad died in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district on Saturday after being hit by boulders following a landslide, police said. They said the accident occurred on the Badrinath National Highway near Chatwapeepal between Gauchar and Karnaprayag.

Police said Nirmal Shahi (36) and Satya Narayana (50) were returning from the Himalayan temple on a motorcycle when they were hit by the boulders rolling down the hill. Their bodies have been pulled out of the rubble of the landslide, police officials added.

Landslides triggered by heavy rains over the past few days have left the Badrinath national highway blocked at more than half a dozen places, including Kameda between Gauchar and Rudraprayag, Bhanir Pani near Pipalkoti, Pagalnala near Tangni, Pinola between Joshimath and Badrinath and at Kanchanganga beyond Hanumanchatti.

National Highways Authority of India and Border Roads Organisation personnel are busy clearing the roads. The Rudraprayag-Kedarnath national highway is also blocked owing to a landslide.

All government and private schools in Rudraprayag district were shut on Saturday as a precautionary measure. A red alert for "heavy to very heavy rainfall" has been issued by the meteorological department for both the Kumaon and Garhwal regions for Saturday and Sunday.

People have been advised not to go near water bodies during this period.