Uttarakhand landslide: 3 men have lucky escape after debris hits bike

It was a close shave for three men as the motorcycle they were riding was suddenly hit by debris from a landslide. The debris came crashing down on them from the hillside, knocking them down from their motorcycles, but luckily, the boulders did not directly hit them and their lives were spared.

The recent incident captured in CCTV footage reportedly took place on the Har Ki Pauri–Bhim Goda road in Haridwar, Uttarakhand. The bike skidded and fell on the road. But the riders, although shocked and scared, managed to swiftly regain composure and ran to the other side of the road.

The shocked onlookers can be seen trying to pull them away from the hillside to ensure that they are out of danger.

Also Read: Uttarakhand cloudburst: 28-member Kerala tourist group trapped

One more body recovered

Meanwhile, one body was recovered and 150 people rescued from the Dharali village on Wednesday (August 6) as the search and rescue operation continued. The rescuers are facing difficulty due to incessant rain and inclement weather.

The deceased has been identified as Akash Panwar, 35, the Uttarkashi Disaster Control Room said, as quoted by PTI.

Arterial roads leading up to Dharali have been blocked because of landslides, resulting in dozens of people being trapped and many homes and cars being swept away by the raging waters on Tuesday. Eleven Army personnel from the nearby camp in Harsil were among those missing.

Also Read: Catch our Live coverage of the Uttarakhand tragedy

28 Kerala tourists missing

Among the missing, there is also a 28-member group of tourists from Kerala. "They said they were leaving from Uttarkashi to Gangotri at around 8.30 am that day. The landslides occurred along that route. We have been unable to contact them since they left," a relative of one of the missing said.

Four people are suspected to have been killed in the disaster that struck the ecologically fragile area following what officials described as a cloudburst on Tuesday afternoon. At least half of Dharali was buried under the fast-flowing mudslide of slush, rubble, and water.

The village is the main stopover on the way to Gangotri, from where the Ganga originates, and is home to several hotels and home stays.

Also Read: Uttarkashi floods: 150 rescued, 11 army troops missing, says NDRF

What NDRF says

NDRF deputy inspector general (DIG) operations Mohsen Shahedi said that three teams of the federal contingency force are en route to Dharali but have been unable to get there because continuous landslides have blocked the Rishikesh -Uttarkashi highway.

Dharali is about 140 km from Dehradun and usually a five-hour drive.

Two NDRF teams are to be airlifted from Dehradun, but they can't be moved as bad weather is preventing a successful sortie, Shahedi told reporters in Delhi.

Teams of the Army, ITBP, and SDRF are undertaking rescue operations in the affected area, and about 150 people have been rescued, he said.

"We have been told that four people have been killed and about 50 are missing," Shahedi said.

(With agency inputs)