Police said the victims were residents of Delhi, Bihar and Hyderabad. (Representative)
Rishikesh/New Tehri:
Three people were killed and three others went missing after a vehicle fell into the Ganga river after being hit by a landslide in Tehri Garhwal district on Sunday, officials said.
Eleven people, including the driver, were in the vehicle, five of whom were rescued and admitted to a government hospital in Rishikesh, police said. He was going from Kedarnath to Rishikesh.
Inspector-in-charge of Muni Ki Reti police station Ritesh Shah said personnel of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and local police have reached the spot and rescue and relief operations are underway.
SDRF Inspector Kavendra Sajwan said three bodies have been retrieved from the river, while a team of divers is conducting operations to search for the other passengers.
He said that the victims were residents of Delhi, Bihar and Hyderabad.
According to the police, the accident took place in Muni Ki Reti area on the Rishikesh-Badrinath National Highway.
The driver lost control of the car after it was hit by a landslide. It then skidded off the road and fell into the Ganga river, Shah said, adding that meanwhile, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has urged people to be vigilant due to landslides triggered by heavy rains and overflowing rivers.
Incidents of landslides, road closures and overflowing rivers and streams were reported due to inclement weather and excessive rain. He told that all the District Magistrates and Disaster Management Department have been instructed to remain alert.
The Chief Minister urged the pilgrims visiting the State to plan their travel only after getting the latest weather information to avoid any inconvenience.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV Staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)