Jaipur, Aug 26 (IANS) Five youths from Sampu town in Rajasthan’s Dholpur district, who had gone to visit the Vaishno Devi temple last week, were caught in a landslide near the Garnaai Lota on the Kishanpur-Domel Road in Jammu on Tuesday, police officials said.

Three of them swept away in the strong water current, while two managed to survive by swimming and clinging to a tree.

The rescue teams of the NDRF and local police have launched an operation to trace the missing youths.

According to officials, the group of five youths — Yash (son of Shashikant Garg and resident of Garg Colony in Dholpur’s Sampu), Pranshu (son of Sunil Mittal and resident of Nagla Rai Jeet Hall in Dholpur’s Sampu), Shiv Bansal (son of Vinod Bansal and resident of Kheragarh), Aditya (son of Hariom Parmar and a resident of Sampu), and Deepak (son of Vishnu Mittal and a resident of Tasimo village in Dholpur) — had travelled to the Vaishno Devi temple on August 23.

All the youths were returning from Katra to Jammu to board a delayed train in Rajasthan when a sudden landslide struck.

To avoid being hit by falling stones and debris, the youths came down the slope.

As a result, a strong gush of water, triggered by the landslide, swept the youths away.

Aditya and Deepak survived by swimming in the torrent and holding onto a tree.

However, Yash, Pranshu, and Shiv were carried away by the force of the water and remain missing.

Nearly two hours after the incident, NDRF personnel and local police reached the spot.

Based on the account of the survivors, they launched an intensive rescue operation that continued late on Tuesday night.

As news of the tragedy reached Dholpur, panic and grief gripped the aggrieved families.

Relatives of the missing youths immediately left for Jammu by car.

Before departing for Rajasthan, the youths informed the Sampu police station in-charge Virendra Meena and Sub-Divisional Magistrate Karamveer Singh, requesting assistance in tracing their loved ones.

–IANS

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