Hyderabad tourists killed in landslide on Badrinath national highway

NEW DELHI: Two tourists from Hyderabad died in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district on Saturday after being hit by boulders following a landslide, according to police. The accident happened on the Badrinath National Highway near Chatwapeepal between Gauchar and Karnaprayag.
Police identified the victims as Nirmal Shahi, 36, and Satya Narayana, 50. They were returning from the Himalayan temple on a motorcycle when the boulders rolled down the hill and hit them.Their bodies were retrieved from the rubble of the landslide, police officials confirmed.
Landslides induced by heavy rains over the past few days have blocked the Badrinath national highway in more than half a dozen places, including Kameda between Gauchar and Rudraprayag, Bhanir Pani near Pipalkoti, Pagalnala near Tangni, Pinola between Joshimath and Badrinath, and at Kanchanganga beyond Hanumanchatti.
National Highways Authority of India and Border Roads Organisation personnel are actively working to clear the roads. The Rudraprayag-Kedarnath national highway is similarly blocked due to a landslide.
All government and private schools in Rudraprayag district were closed on Saturday as a precaution.
The meteorological department issued a red alert for "heavy to very heavy rainfall" in the Kumaon and Garhwal regions for Saturday and Sunday. People have been advised to avoid going near water bodies during this period.