Uttarakhand rain: Fatalities rise to 10 with recovery of four bodies from landslide-hit Lakshman Jhula resort

Kotdwar/Dehradun, August 16

Rescuers have pulled out another four bodies, including those of a couple and their son, from the debris at a resort in Uttarakhand’s Lakshman Jhula that was hit by a landslide following heavy rain on Monday.

Two bodies were retrieved late on Tuesday and two others on Wednesday, the SSP Office in Pauri said.

The victims have been identified as 39-year-old Kamal Verma, his wife Nisha (37) and their son Nirmit (11). The other body has been identified as that of Nishant Verma (18), son of one Ravi Verma.

The death toll stemming from Monday’s rain-related incidents in Uttarakhand has risen to 10 with the recoveries of these four bodies. The Night Paradise Camp resort in the Lakshman Jhula area of Pauri district was hit by a landslide on Monday. The six people inside the resort when the incident occurred were buried in the debris.

Despite being located in Rishikesh, the Lakshman Jhula area falls under the jurisdiction of Pauri district.

Rescuers late on Monday pulled out 10-year-old Kritika Verma — the lone survivor — and the body of 24-year-old Monti Verma. The pair hailed from Haryana’s Panipat and Kurukshetra districts, respectively, the SSP Office said.

A woman and her son, whose car was swept away by a flooded rain-fed stream in the Yamkeshwar area of Pauri district on Monday, are still missing. One person of Nepali origin from Lincholi area in Rudraparayag district is also missing.

Disruption of road traffic continued with the Pauri-Kotdwar-Dugadda national highway blocked by landslide debris at Amsaur and a stretch of the Rishikesh-Badrinath national highway washed away near Pipalkoti Bharenpani, the state’s disaster control room said.

Efforts are underway to reopen the roads, it said.