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Chilla vehicle accident: SDRF recovers body of female warden, death toll rises to 5
The accident occurred when the electric vehicle in which 10 forest officials were travelling lost control and hit a tree on Chilla Road, which connects Rishikesh with Haridwar
The Uttarakhand State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) on Thursday recovered the body of a missing Rajaji Tiger Reserve officer from the Chilla canal in Rishikesh, taking the death toll to five.
Aloki Devi, the warden of the Chilla range, was washed away in Shakti Canal after the vehicle she was travelling in along with nine others met with an accident on Monday evening.
“The search was started near Chilla powerhouse by the expert divers of SDRF. An intensive search operation was again conducted by raft from the accident spot to the powerhouse,” Lalita Negi, media in-charge of the force, said, adding that the search operation was started by the 18-member team SDRF early Thursday morning.
“Inspector Kavindra Sajwan present on the spot said the recovered body was identified as that of the female officer who went missing in the incident. The body has been handed over to the district police for further action,” she said.
The SDRF used underwater sonar and drones to search for the body, she said.
According to police, the accident occurred “when the electric vehicle in which 10 forest officials were travelling lost control and hit a tree on Chilla Road, which connects Rishikesh with Haridwar”.
Four people, including three forest officials, died on the spot while the woman officer was thrown into the canal from the impact of the accident. The four were identified as ranger Chilla ranger Shailesh Ghildiyal, deputy ranger Pramod Dhyani, Saif Ali Khan (forest employee) and Kurlaj Singh.
The injured people were Dr Rakesh Nautiyal (veterinarian at the Rajaji national park), forest department employees Himanshu Gosai and Amit Semwal, Ankush and Ashbin Biju (driver).