A 28-tourist group from Kerala has gone missing, following a cloudburst that caused huge mudslides in Uttarakhand, relatives said on Wednesday. Among the 28 tourists, 20 are said to be from Kerala who were based in Maharashtra and the remaining eight from across different districts of Kerala, a relative of one of the couples in the group said to the media.
She informed that the couple's son had last contacted them a day ago.
“They told us that they were going from Uttarkashi to Gangotri at about 8.30 am yesterday. Landslides took place along that road. We could not communicate with them since they departed," she explained.
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She further stated that even the Haridwar-based tour operating company, which had organised the 10-day Uttarakhand trip, was found to be in no position to give any news of the group.
“By now their phones might have run out of charge. Also, there is no mobile network in that area at present," she told the media.
Governing authorities revealed that almost half of Dharali was covered under a huge mudslide of slush, garbage, and water. The village is one of the major halts on the journey to Gangotri, the birthplace of the Ganga, and has a few hotels and homestays.
A body was recovered and 150 people rescued from the flood-ravaged mountain village of Dharali on Wednesday as the search for the missing continued amid huge challenges, one of them, an incessant rain.
Landslides blocked arterial roads leading up to Dharali where dozens of people were trapped and many homes and cars swept away by the raging waters on Tuesday. Eleven Army personnel from the nearby camp in Harsil were among those missing.
The person whose body was retrieved was identified as that of 35-year-old Akash Panwar, the Uttarkashi Disaster Control Room said.
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