Rain mayhem: Falling boulders kill eight across Uttarakhand

DEHRADUN/UTTARKASHI: Falling boulders, set loose by heavy rain in the hills, killed eight persons across Uttarakhand, including three pilgrims from Madhya Pradesh and a driver who were returning from the Gangotri shrine.
While three persons were killed in Kalsi when a boulder fell on their vehicle, a man on a bike was killed in Rudraprayag in an identical accident.
According to authorities, around 8pm on Monday, a massive landslide occurred in Uttarkashi on the Gangotri highway at Gangnani, near Bhatwari. It "showered boulders, debris and rocks" on three vehicles that were carrying around 30 pilgrims as they slowed down to cross a swollen waterfall flowing across the road.
Devendra Patwal, the district disaster management officer, said, "Three passengers and the driver of one of the three vehicles, a tempo traveller carrying 22 persons, died on the spot. The dead have been identified as 65-year-old Pushpa Chauhan from Bhopal, 23-year-old Anshul Mandloi and 23-year-old Yogendra Solanki from Dewas town in MP.