Pilgrim from UP goes missing in Mandakini river

Rudraprayag (UKD), Jun 11 (PTI) A pilgrim went missing after being swept away by the strong currents of the Mandakini river in Uttarakhand while crossing it with a group of friends, officials said on Wednesday.

State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) personnel rescued five persons on Tuesday evening while the search is on for the missing 22-year-old pilgrim identified a Rahul.

The group had come from Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh and was returning from Kedarnath by the old trek route via Garud Chatti on Tuesday evening when they got stuck in the river while trying to cross it between Rambada and Lincholi. The rescued men told SDRF personnel that the incident occurred when they were returning from Kedarnath. They were going towards Garud Chatti to take a short cut to Rambada when they got stranded in the river. While crossing it, Rahul was swept away by the strong currents.

The SDRF team stationed in Bhimbali searched for the man but due to the swift currents of the river and darkness of the night he could not be traced.

Those rescued include Vishnu Chaudhary (20), Kunal (17), Shibhav (21), Mahesh Chaudhary (19) and Shibhav Kumar (20). PTI Cor ALM ALM DV DV