Two Lucknow Brothers Killed By Lightning During Trek To World's Highest Shiva Temple In Uttarakhand

Dehradun: A trekking trip to the Himalayas turned tragic for a group of tourists from Lucknow after two brothers lost their lives when lightning struck during severe weather while trekking to Tungnath Temple, regarded as the World's Highest Shiva Temple, in Uttarakhand's Rudraprayag district. Two other members of the group were seriously injured in the incident, officials said.According to District Disaster Management Officer Nandan Singh Rajwar, authorities received information on Friday evening about tourists stranded in the Tungnath-Chopta area due to heavy rain and a powerful storm. Rescue teams were immediately deployed to the location, PTI reported. Reports said 19-year-old Abhinav Vajpayee, son of Sanjeet Kumar, died at the spot after being

struck by lightning. His elder brother, 22-year-old Abhishek Vajpayee, was rescued and brought down from the trekking route but later succumbed to his injuries while undergoing treatment at the Primary Health Centre (PHC) in Ukhimath. The brothers were residents of the Transport Nagar area of Lucknow.Meanwhile, 25-year-old Shubham Shukla from Unnao and 24-year-old Aajan Mishra from Lucknow were rescued safely.Despite difficult weather conditions, rescue personnel carried out evacuation and relief operations in the area and safely brought the injured trekkers down. The victims were subsequently shifted to a hospital in Ukhimath by ambulance for medical treatment.Chamba Incident In a separate incident, rescue teams continued efforts on Sunday to recover the bodies of seven tourists and a taxi driver who were killed after their vehicle plunged into a deep gorge in Himachal Pradesh's Chamba district, officials said.The accident took place late Friday night on the Bairagarh-Sach Pass-Killar road in the Churah subdivision. However, the crash came to light only on Saturday afternoon when local residents spotted the wreckage and alerted authorities.Officials said the vehicle was travelling towards the snow-covered Sach Pass, considered one of the most challenging mountain routes in Himachal Pradesh, when it met with the accident.Speaking to PTI, BJP MLA Hans Raj said recovery operations were still underway, but steep terrain and adverse weather conditions were hampering efforts to retrieve the bodies.He added that the accident site is located in a remote region with difficult topography and no mobile network connectivity, making rescue and recovery operations even more challenging.(With inputs from PTI)