Uttarakhand: Lanslides hit Char Dham Yatra pilgrims; 3 killed, 3 injured on Yamunotri, Badrinath routes

Large boulders crashed onto the pedestrian path, disrupting the Char Dham pilgrimage movement. (Representative image)

Three pilgrims lost their lives, one was missing, and three others sustained injuries in separate landslides that struck the Yamunotri and Badrinath routes in Uttarakhand on Monday, The Times of India reported.

Triggered by heavy rainfall, a landslide hit the Yamunotri route at 4 pm at Nau Kainchi near Bhairav temple, which is about 1.5 km from Kedarnath temple. As per the report, large boulders crashed onto the pedestrian path, disrupting the Char Dham pilgrimage movement.

Teams from the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and local police rushed to the site, with National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel joining later in the evening, the report added.

Rasik, a pilgrim from Mumbai, was rescued from under debris with injuries and admitted to the primary health centre at Jankichatti. His condition was reported to be stable. Based on Rasik's statement, two pilgrims — a 12-year-old girl named Bhavika from Delhi and another male pilgrim — had gone missing, of whom one body was recovered later. Search operations are underway. Rescuers later found the body of a teenage girl and another unidentified person, the body so mutilated that even its gender could not be ascertained.

On Monday morning, falling boulders struck a moving car near the Patalganga tunnel on the Badrinath highway in Chamoli district, killing a woman and injuring two others, including a child.

As per the report, the family from Fatehabad, Haryana, was returning from Badrinath when the accident occurred. Shilpa, 36, died on the spot, while Ankit Lal, 39, and 10-year-old Khwahish were taken to a nearby hospital. The woman's body was sent for post-mortem examination. Inspector Karn Singh from the SDRF led the rescue along with local police.

"The area has witnessed several rockfall incidents recently, so travellers must remain cautious," an SDRF official was quoted by TOI as saying. Landslides and falling boulders blocked the Badrinath National Highway (NH-54) near Pipalkoti for over six hours on Monday morning.

According to the report, authorities cleared the road by afternoon, reopening it to one-way traffic as stabilisation work continued. Chamoli tehsil recorded the district's highest rainfall at 93.66 mm, significantly raising the risk of landslides. The highway saw two blockages within 24 hours. Two tourists from Hyderabad, aged 36 and 50, died on Saturday when boulders fell on their motorcycle near Chatwapeepal, between Gauchar and Karnaprayag.