IMD issues red alert for Himachal; Rescue ops on after landslides

Heavy rain lashed parts of Himachal Pradesh triggering landslides and traffic disruptions at several places, prompting the India Meteorological Department's (IMD's) Shimla office to sound a red alert in Kangra, Mandi, Solan and Sirmaur on Sunday, officials aware of the matter said.

- Dar Ovais

DEHRADUN: Two labourers were killed and seven others feared dead after a landslide, triggered by a cloudburst, struck their campsite near Silai Bend on the Yamunotri national highway in Uttarkashi in the early hours of Sunday, police said.

The incident took place at around 1 a.m., approximately 4 km ahead of Paligad in Barkot tehsil on the national highway. Twenty-nine people were present at the campsite when the landslide struck. Of these, 20 were moved to safety.

The bodies of Duje Lal (55), a resident of Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh, and Keval Bisht (43), a resident of Nepal, were recovered.

"Around 3 a.m., we were informed that a landslide struck a campsite of labourers involved in the construction of a hotel. Of the 29 people at the campsite, 20 were rescued. Two bodies have been recovered, while seven are still missing," Uttarkashi District Magistrate (DM) Prashant Kumar Arya said. Rescue teams are searching for the missing people on a war footing, he said.