Two labourers killed, seven missing in Uttarakhand cloudburst

Lucknow: Two labourers were killed and seven others missing after a cloudburst wreaked havoc across Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi district.

Intense rain hit an under construction hotel site near Silai Band on Yamunotri Highway, which is one the major Chardham Yatra routes, in Uttarakhand.

According to the officials, the cloudburst occurred around midnight on Saturday and damaged the construction site.

Nine labourers, who were sleeping in a tent nearby, reportedly swept away in the heavy rains. The rescue teams later found the bodies of two labourers. Five of them were of Nepali origin while other three were from Dehradun and one from Uttar Pradesh.

A local police official said that ten labourers were rescued from the damaged construction site and efforts were underway to trace the seven missing.

Reports said that there were 19 labourers at the construction and all were sleeping in the tent when the cloudburst hit.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said that officials had been carrying out rescue operations. The officials said that the missing labourers could have either been trapped under the debris or swept away in the heavy rains.

Char Dham Yatra

A few days ago, 2 pilgrims had gone missing after a landslide hit the Yamunotri trek route. Efforts are on to trace them.

The Char Dham Yatra was halted for a day following heavy rains as landslides on the routes blocked the highways at many places, reports said.

The officials have been directed to stop the pilgrims at Haridwar, Rishikesh, Rudraprayag, Sneprayag and Vikas Nagar.