1 dead, over 700 rescued from Kinnaur Kailash yatra route in Himachal

One pilgrim lost his life while over 700 stranded pilgrims were safely rescued from the route of Kinnaur Kailash Yatra in Kinnaur district, officials said here today.

As per the district administration, on August 5, as many as 402 pilgrims, who had gone for yatra from Malling Khata village, were stranded after which a rescue operation was launched to rescue the pilgrims. Out of these, 177 pilgrims were brought back safely to Malling Khata the same day. However, due to worsening weather conditions and rising water levels in a stream flowing through the region, as many as 225 pilgrims got stranded in a cave.

To rescue these pilgrims, a team from the Forest Department, led by the Naib Tehsildar of Kalpa, was dispatched via the Purvani route on Tuesday evening. A leaf shelter has been set up for the rescued pilgrims at the Shongtong Army Camp, where 183 individuals have already arrived.

“All of them are safe, and arrangements have been made for their meals. In addition, they are being provided medical facilities at the hospital. The remaining stranded people are also being rescued and brought directly to the army camp,” said Deputy Commissioner (DC) Kinnaur Dr Amit Sharma.

Additionally, as many as 417 pilgrims were also rescued by a team of Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and Kinnaur Tourism Authority (KTA) after two bridges on Kangarang nallah had washed away as a result of a flash flood triggered by a cloudburst. These pilgrims were stranded at Malling Khatta to go on the yatra. However, they got stranded at Malling Khata, due to the cloudburst.

A team of the ITBP, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and KTA reached the spot and carried out an overnight rescue operation and all the stranded pilgrims were safely rescued and brought to safer places.