Nine construction labourers went missing early Sunday after a landslide triggered by a cloudburst hit their shelters along the Yamunotri National Highway in Uttarkashi district, officials said.
The labourers, who are said to be of Nepali origin, were engaged in the construction of a hotel.
District Magistrate Prashant Arya said the landslide occurred at Silai bend about 4 km ahead of Paligad, Uttarkashi. The labourers were engaged in the construction of a hotel, he said, adding a new landslide zone has developed close to the hotel.
“There were 19 labourers at the camp site below the hotel when the landslide occurred washing out around 10 metres of the highway. Eight to nine of them are missing,” he said.
The district emergency operation centre said 10 labourers living in the tents have been brought to safety and nine of them are missing.
NDRF, SDRF and police personnel have launched a search and rescue operation at the site, the district magistrate said. The highway is blocked by landslide rubble at two more locations, he said.