At least two labourers were confirmed killed and seven remained missing after a cloudburst triggered a landslide in northern India early on Sunday.
The disaster struck near an under-construction hotel in the Silai area of Uttarkashi along the Yamunotri National Highway, a key route leading to one of Hinduism’s holiest pilgrimage sites in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand.
A labour campsite housing 19 workers was swept away by a torrent of rainwater and debris, with 10 rescued thus far. Most of the victims, engaged in road construction, were believed to be from the neighbouring country of Nepal, PTI news agency reported.
The two bodies were recovered around 18km downstream, from the banks of the Yamuna, local police officer Vikram Singh said.
Uttarkashi magistrate Prashant Arya said a new landslide zone had formed near where the incident took place. “There is an under-construction hotel near Silai. Adjacent to it, a new landslide zone has developed where no such incident had occurred before – it was considered a safe area,” he said. “The rubble cascaded down near the hotel and hit the labourers’ campsite.”
Mr Arya said rescue operations were underway with teams from the National Disaster Response Force, the State Disaster Response Force, and the police working in difficult terrain. “Yamunotri Marg has also been affected,” he noted, referring to the critical highway leading to the Yamunotri temple.
The India Meteorological Department has issued a red alert for Uttarakhand, forecasting heavy rainfall and thunderstorms on Sunday and Monday.
The state has experienced unrelenting rain since Saturday, causing rivers to swell and prompting fears of further landslides and flash floods. Connectivity to several areas of the state has been severely disrupted.
A 10m stretch of the Yamunotri Highway has been washed away while key roads near Nandprayag and Bhaneropani have been blocked by landslides. In Rudraprayag, the Sonprayag–Munkatiya road, vital for access to the holy Kedarnath shrine, has been temporarily closed after fresh landslides.
The Yamuna’s water level has risen significantly, placing nearby settlements at risk.
Amid the unfolding crisis, chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said he was in constant contact with district officials and had directed rescue and relief efforts.
In response to the weather alert and hazardous conditions, Uttarakhand suspended the Char Dham Yatra for 24 hours. The pilgrimage, one of the holiest in the Hindu religion, involves visiting the four shrines of Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath, and draws hundreds of thousands of devotees from across India and abroad each year.
Vinay Shankar Pandey, commissioner of the Garhwal division, said that pilgrims were being stopped in Haridwar, Rishikesh, Srinagar, Rudraprayag, Sonprayag, and Vikasnagar for their safety.
“As a precautionary measure, I have given instructions to police and administration officials to stop the pilgrims,” he said, reported the New Indian Express.
Authorities were also urging residents and pilgrims to avoid riverbanks and unstable slopes.
Rescue teams continued to work on the ground, although officials said the difficult terrain and rain had made operations challenging.
