New Delhi: Twelve people went missing after a flash flood in a waterfall swept away three shops near Gaurikund on the Kedarnath yatra route in Uttarakhand’s Rudraprayag district on Friday.
“At least a dozen people are feared missing after three shops were washed away,” Chamoli District Disaster Management Officer (DDMO) Nandan Singh Rajwar was quoted by media as saying. Gaurikund is the basecamp for trek to Kedarnath Temple.
Those missing have been identified as Vinod (26), Mulayam (25), Ashu (23), Priyanshu Chamola (18), Ranbir Singh (28), Amar Bohra, his wife Anita Bohra, their daughters, Radhika Bohra and Pinki Bohra, and sons Prithvi Bohra (7), Jatil (6) and Vakil (3).
A team of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) personnel have started the search and rescue operation, which is being hampered due to heavy rains coupled with boulders falling intermittently from the hillsides, Circle Officer Vimal Rawat told PTI.
Notably, the Indian Meteorological Deparment (IMD) has predicted heavy rainfall in the state in the coming days.
