Rain fury in Uttarakhand: Two pilgrims killed in landslide, Kedarnath yatra put on hold till Sept 3

Debris carrying rocks and boulders fell from the hillside at Munkatiya and hit a vehicle that was passing by the road, killing two passengers on the spot, Rudraprayag district Disaster Management Officer Nandan Singh Rajwar said.

Lucknow: Heavy rains continued to batter large parts of Uttarakhand killing two persons and injuring four others as their vehicle was hit by a boulder in Rudraprayag district in the state on Monday.

The rains triggered landslides at several places and brought the Char Dham and Hemkund Sahib Yatra to a halt.

According to police sources, the vehicle carrying six people was on the way to Gaurikund from Soneprayag, when a heavy boulder which hurtled down a hill near Munkatiya fell over the vehicle killing two passengers on the spot and injuring four others.

The deceased were residents of Barkot in the state, police said, adding that the injured were referred to a higher medical centre.

Large parts of the state continued to be battered by heavy rains since Sunday night and a red alert was sounded in Dehradun, Tehri, Pouri and Haridwar districts. A yellow alert was sounded for other districts, sources said.

Educational institutions remained closed in the state on Monday following heavy rains. The Met office has predicted very heavy rains in parts of the state on Monday. It said that the current spell of rain is likely to continue for the next few days.

Commissioner of Garhwal region Vinay Shankar Pandey said that the Char Dham and Hemkund Sahib Yatra has been suspended till September 5 as roads on the yatra routes were blocked at several places owing to landslides.

Meanwhile, all the 19 NHPC employees who were trapped in a tunnel after its opening was blocked by heavy boulders and stones due to a landslide, were safely rescued, according to reports.