Rudraprayag (Uttarakhand), June 18 - Two palanquin bearer labourers from Jammu and Kashmir died and three people including a tourist from Gujarat were injured in a landslide on the footpath of Kedarnath temple in Uttarakhand near the Jangalchatti rain drain today. The police said that the deceased have been identified as Nitin Kumar and Chandrashekhar, residents of Doda district, Jammu and Kashmir, who were palanquin bearers, while the injured have been identified as Sandeep Kumar and Nitin Manhas, both residents of Doda, and pilgrim Akash Chitriya, a resident of Bhavnagar in Gujarat. Sandeep and Manhas were also palanquin bearers.
Rudraprayag SP Akshay Prahlad Kode said that the landslide incident took place near Jangalchatti Ghat at around 11.20 am and due to debris and stones falling from the hill, a pilgrim and four palanquin bearers who were passing through on foot fell into the gorge.
After receiving the information, the police and the District Disaster Management Force (SDRF) team reached the spot and started a rescue operation and pulled out the victims of the accident. He said that the police and SDRF personnel had to struggle a lot to pull out the dead and injured from the gorge.
He said that two people died on the spot while three were injured. The SP said that the injured have been taken to Gaurikund Hospital. According to Kode, the movement of passengers is continuing under police protection.