Two people were killed and one was seriously injured as a taxi carrying eight people veered off the road and fell into a river near Devprayag on Tuesday morning, officials said.
A search operation is under way to trace the remaining five passengers.
Upon receiving information, teams from the local police, State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), and the district administration reached the spot and launched a rescue operation.
Officials said the river’s strong current and the difficult terrain made the rescue efforts challenging. Additional rescue teams from Srinagar and Dhalwala have also been pressed into the operation.
According to official sources, the vehicle carrying eight people was heading towards Haridwar when the incident occurred near the Sainik Hotel on the Badrinath National Highway. All of them, including the driver, are residents of Rajasthan.
The joint teams of the SDRF and local police rescued one critically injured passenger, who was taken to a hospital in Srinagar. Rescuers recovered two bodies from the river. The bodies are being brought to the road using rafts.
The SDRF and local police are conducting a search operation along the riverbanks and adjoining areas to locate the five missing passengers, they added.
