Dhar (Madhya Pradesh): A landslide was reported on Monday evening on Kedarnath Yatra route in Uttarakhand, killing five pilgrims, including a man and his two sisters from Sardarpur tehsil of Dhar district. The deceased trio, identified as Gopal Bagdiram (50), Durga Bai Khapar (50) and Saman Bai (50), were part of a group of 40 pilgrims from Dhar who had embarked on the Kedarnath Yatra by bus.
Durga’s husband, Chhaganlal and others were seriously injured. The landslide, triggered by heavy rains, occurred on the Kedarnath walking path near Gaurikund, half a kilometre ahead of Sonprayag. The pilgrims were caught off guard as they were walking on the footpath and the landslide buried them under debris.
The SDRF team worked tirelessly to remove the bodies from the debris on Tuesday morning. Apart from the trio, two other pilgrims, Bharat Bhai Niralal (52) from Surat, Gujarat and Titli Devi Mandal (70) from Dhanwa, Nepal, also lost their lives in the accident. Jeevach Tiwari (60) from Dhanwa, Nepal, Manpreet Singh (30) from West Bengal and Chhaganlal (45) from Dhar are among those receiving treatment at Guptkashi Hospital.
The rescue efforts were led by the local police and SDRF team, who responded promptly to the distress call received at the Rudraprayag Disaster Control Room. Ukhimath SDM Anil Kumar stated that the injured were admitted to Guptkashi Hospital for first aid, while SDRF SI Ashish Dimri warned of the challenging conditions at the spot, where landslides are gradually taking place, posing a danger to pedestrians. Dhar collector Priyank Mishra has sanctioned an amount of Rs 50,000 from the Red Cross for the last rites of the deceased and Rs 50,000 for the treatment of injured Chhaganlal.
