Five feared dead in Himachal cloudburst

Shimla: Five people, including four tourists and a tourist guide, were feared killed after a cloudburst struck the Scorpio SUV they were travelling in at Chewadi, about 12 km from Sunni in Shimla district on Tuesday.

In all, there were seven tourists hailing from Nawanshahr subdivision of Punjab’s Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar district, of them three were rescued and shifted to a local hospital.

The victims have been identified as Saranprit Singh (S/o shamsher Singh), Harpreet Singh, Abanjot Singh, Amana (S/o Jalaman Singh) and Titu, a guide of Trimurti Rafting Company, who are still unaccented for. A search operation is on, according to police sources.

The three rescued travellers have been identified as Sukhbir Singh (S/o Sardar Darshan Singh), Fateh Singh (S/o Baldev Singh) and Kamaljit Singh.

The tourists, along with the guide, were on their way to the Sutlej for rafting.

Superintendent of Police D.W. Negi said four people and a local tourist guide have been swept away by a cloudburst, while three people, who had been rescued, were been shifted to a hospital in Suni.

Negi said the four tourists, who had come here for river rafting, were travelling in a Scorpio SUV when the cloudburst struck on Tuesday afternoon.

—ANI