'Never Seen Such Horrific Scene': Eyewitness Recalls How People Were Swept Away After Uttarkashi Cloudburst

A cloudburst in Dharali, Uttarakhand, triggered devastating flash floods, reminiscent of past disasters like Kedarnath. Videos show people fleeing as hotels and homes are swept away by the Kheer Ganga river. At least four are dead, with 60-70 trapped.

Houses being swept away in a flash flood triggered by a cloudburst at Dharali, in Uttarkashi district, Uttarakhand on Tuesday, August 5.

Source : PTI

Uttarkashi (Uttarakhand), Aug 5 (PTI) "Everything is over" -- a victim is heard saying in one of several disturbing videos which surfaced online after a cloudburst led to flash floods on Tuesday in Himalayan village of Dharali in this district leaving behind a trail of destruction.

In a horrific video of the incident, some people were seen running and screaming to save their lives from the floodwaters coming close on their heels and finally swallowing them.

In another, a man is seen trying to walk through the slushy waters but being unable to.

The massive devastation brought back horrific memories of the 2013 deluge in Kedarnath and the Rishiganga disaster of 2021.

Like the floods in Kedarnath which silenced a place bustling with pilgrims and Rishiganga where a normal day at work turned into a fatal disaster for hundreds of workers of a hydel project, the raging waters of Kheer Ganga river following the cloudburst swept away big hotels and houses in Dharali burying the lively place en route to Gangotri under a mound of debris.

Various videos on social media showed five to ten-metre high waves carrying tonnes of rubble and hitting a row of houses, hotels and other buildings which collapsed on people scampering to safety.

Many houses and hotels were completely swamped by debris due to the floods, while only the red and green tin roofs of some tall hotels were visible.

In a video, a car was seen speeding and finally disappearing into the waves that overtook it.

People of Mukhba village, famous as the maternal home of Mother Ganga, located in front of Dharali, also started screaming on seeing this heart-rending scene and started praying to God for protection.

Sixty-year-old Subhash Chandra Semwal, a resident of Mukhba village and an eyewitness, said that he had never seen such a horrific scene in his life.

He said that in the afternoon, he heard the sound of water and stones flowing at a high speed, following which he and other members of his family came out.

"When we saw a huge amount of water flowing down in Kheer Ganga, we all panicked. Then we blew whistles to alert the people living in Dharali market and shouted at them to run away from there," he said.

With teary eyes, Semwal said that after hearing their voices, many people ran out of the hotel but the rushing flood waters overtook them and they were swept away.

In another video of the incident, panic-stricken people are heard gasping for breath and trying desperately to call their relatives in affected areas to find out if they are alright. A voice is also heard in the video, "Everything is over".

In Dharali, the flash floods trapped 60-70 people and left at least four dead. Dharali is the main stopover on way to Gangotri, the origin of the Ganges, and home to many hotels, restaurants and home stays.

On receiving the information about the disaster, the Army reached the spot first and immediately started relief and rescue operations. As the Army's Harshil camp is only four kilometers away from the site of the incident, about 150 personnel reached there in just 10 minutes and rescued 20 people.

At many places, Army personnel pulled people out with the help of ropes.

In a video uploaded by the Army on social media, debris is seen everywhere which is still slowly flowing. An Army officer said that people have been asked to stay away from the disaster-hit Dharali for the time being.

Meanwhile, SDRF sources said that a team of 50 soldiers is also engaged in relief and rescue operations with their necessary equipment like victim locating camera, cutting tools, and rotary hammer.

According to officials, apart from Dharali, another cloudburst incident has occurred near the Army camp in Harshil. However, no information has been received about any damage there. 

(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)