9 labourers missing after cloud burst triggers landslide in Uttarkashi

Nine labourers are reported missing after a massive landslide, triggered by intense rainfall, struck their campsite near Silai Bend along the Yamunotri National Highway in Uttarkashi early Sunday morning, police said. A search operation is underway.

Around 19 people were present at the campsite when the landslide struck. “Around 3 am, we were informed that a landslide struck a campsite of labourers involved in construction of a hotel. Of the 19 people at the campsite, 9 are missing,” Uttarkashi district magistrate (DM) Prashant Kumar Arya said.

Rescue teams, including the national disaster response force (NDRF), state disaster response force (SDRF), police, revenue department, and public works department (PWD), are searching for them, Arya said.

A part of the national highway was washed out due to the landslide. “As per our assessment, around 10 metres of the national highway has been washed out. It will take some time for us to restore the traffic movement,” he said, adding that the border roads organisation (BRO) and National Highway Authority have been directed to carry out the road restoration work on a war footing.

“It is a new landslide zone. It was a safe spot..... No such incident was reported earlier there,” Arya said.

Five people were killed in a landslide near 9 Kaichi Bhairav Temple on the Yamunotri trek route on June 23. Rescuers recovered two bodies from the debris and rescued an injured man. Two people are still missing.  

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