Uttarkashi cloud burst: 28-member tourist group missing

The 28-member tourist group from Kerala has gone missing after Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi cloud burst.

A tragic incident unfolded in Uttarkashi, Uttarakhand, with a cloud burst that triggered flash floods in the Dharali area on Tuesday. Massive destruction was caused due to the incident, claiming lives, injuries and destruction of homes and properties of the locals. Amidst this, a 28-member tourist group from Kerala has gone missing.

A 28-member tourist group from Kerala goes missing after the Uttarkashi cloudburst.

The tourist group consisting of 28 members from Kerala has gone missing after the tragic Uttarkashi cloudburst incident that triggered a massive slide and flash floods. As per their relatives, cited in a PTI news agency report, the group left from Uttarkashi to Gangotri at around 8.30 am. Several people have gone missing after a cloudburst in the Dharali area of Uttarkashi district in Uttarakhand on Tuesday. The huge torrent swept away houses, hotels, and homestays that lay along the Gangotri pilgrimage site. Of the 28 individuals missing, 20 are reported to be from Kerala settled in Maharashtra, while the other eight are from different districts in Kerala, a relative of one of the couples told PTI.

Relatives are unable to contact.

One of the relatives also mentioned that she had spoken to them the day before, and they had informed her that they were leaving for Gangotri. The landslides occurred along the same route, and the relatives are now unable to contact them. “We have been unable to contact them since they left,” she said. The couple went through a Haridwar-based travel agency that organised the 10-day Uttarakhand tour. However, even they are now unable to provide updates. The report quoted her saying, “Their phones may have run out of battery by now. There is no mobile network in that region currently.”

The cloudburst that happened on Tuesday afternoon struck Dharali, an ecologically fragile region. Thus far, it has claimed the lives of at least four people. As per officials, nearly half of Dharali has been buried under the massive mudslide of debris, slush and water. Meanwhile, nine Indian Army personnel were also missing after the devastating flood in the Kheer Ganga river that led to the destruction.