Uttarkashi, August 18: Six people have died following a cloudburst and heavy rainfall in the border area of Uttarkashi and Himachal Pradesh on Sunday. Bodies of all the six including, an 80-year-old Nepali national have been recovered by Himachal police, according to SDRF, Uttarakhand. Due to bad weather conditions, the helicopter involved in rescue operations could not land at the area where cloudburst hit Mori Tehsil in Uttarkashi district.

According to SDRF Uttarakhand, the bodies of the 80-year-old Nepali national along with another male have been recovered from Sanail village in adjoining Himachal Pradesh while at least four persons are still missing. "Six people of Himachal Pradesh died in the adjoining border area and their bodies have been recovered by Himachal Police," informed Commandment SDRF Jolly Grant. Cloudburst Causes Huge Damage in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi, Five People Go Missing, Several Houses Damaged.

SDRF said the weather had cleared up later in the evening but low visibility made landing difficult. The team reached Aarakot village in Uttarkashi and also Sanail village located at Himachal border after covering the distance on foot.A team of NDRF crossed Mori and is expected to reach shortly.

A cloudburst hit Mori Tehsil in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi district on Sunday, prompting the state government to dispatch teams of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) to carry out rescue and evacuation operations.

Due to the cloudburst, several people have been stranded at various places in the area. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted widespread rainfall over the next three days in Uttarkashi. Further, as per the orders of district magistrate all the schools in Tehri, including government and private, have been closed for Monday.