Monday, 09 OCTOBER 2023  | PNS | DEHRADUN

Nine people are believed to be dead after a massive Boulder fell on a vehicle they were travelling in on the Dharchula-Gunji Road in Pithoragarh district on Sunday afternoon. The boulder was quite massive and could not be removed for several hours after the accident. The local police, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and other several agencies concerned reached the spot within 15 to 20 minutes after the accident. However, the boulder was as large as a house and could not be removed even till late on Sunday night, making it highly unlikely that any of the victims would survive, said the circle officer of Dharchula police Parvez Ali. He told The Pioneer that he was quite near the location when the incident happened. “The police arrived at the accident site within 15 to 20 minutes followed by NDRF and SDRF, among others. The boulder could not be removed for several hours even with the help of multiple JCBs. After consistent attempts of several hours, one body was retrieved from the vehicle which was in quite a bad condition. There was hardly anything other than the clothes of the victim in the name of the body,” said the CO. He said that most of the victims were reportedly locals and belonged to the same family. They had gone to a nearby temple to carry out a Puja. At the time of filing this report, the authorities were still at the accident spot and trying to retrieve bodies from under the boulder, as per the police.