Rudraprayag (Uttarakhand) [India], June 27 (ANI): District authorities have restricted movement on the Sonprayag-Munkatiya road in Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand due to continuous rainfall.

The road, which serves as base point for pilgrims traveling to Kedarnath, was obstructed entirely for the movement of passengers due to continuous debris and stones falling near Sonprayag shuttle bridge and in the sliding zone area near Munkatiya.

Kedarnath Dham Yatra pilgrims were stopped at Sonprayag and Gaurikund for safety reasons, and when the debris was cleared, the movement of pilgrims was allowed again, Rudraprayag Police said in a statement. The opening and closing of the road is being controlled, and the movement of passengers is being ensured with extra caution by the concerned working agency, administrative officials and police.

According to a statement by Rudraprayag Police due to continuous rain and debris falling from the hill above, there were difficulties in opening the road at both these places.

When the road became smooth, they were sent on the Kedarnath Dham Yatra route, and those returning from Gaurikund were brought towards Sonprayag.

The district police have appealed to the pilgrims coming to the Kedarnath Dham to come on the Kedarnath Dham Yatra with extra caution and monitor the weather forecast.

Meanwhile, search and rescue operation continued on the second day on the Alaknanda River today for missing persons in the bus accident in which four people died in Rudraprayag on Thursday

The death toll rose to four on Thursday after the body of a missing passenger was recovered near the Srinagar dam in Pauri Garhwal, around 40 kilometres from the accident site.

State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) Inspector Manjari Negi said that a body of another deceased passenger in the Rudraprayag bus accident has been found floating near the dam in Srinagar. The deceased has been identified as Gauri Soni.

The SDRF, assisted by the SSB, has deployed multiple teams along key points of the Alaknanda River.

'As soon as our team received this information, we all gathered here. One team of the SSB is also present. We divided the team into three parts--one near Goa Beach, one near Dhari Devi, and one on the dam. We have split the SSB team into these three sections and are constantly searching with binoculars and ourselves. Whatever we find here, we will recover. We have OVM and rafts. If anyone sees something, we will recover it,' Negi added.

According to officials, the bus, which was travelling from Rudraprayag to Badrinath, collided with an oncoming vehicle in the Gholtir area and fell into a 300-metre-deep gorge before landing in the Alaknanda River. (ANI)