Two killed in Uttarakhand truck accident; search on for boy swept away in Ganga

Two men died after a truck plunged into a gorge in Rudraprayag, while SDRF teams continued searching for a 16-year-old swept away by the Ganga in Haridwar.

Published on: Jul 17, 2026, 18:47:33 IST

By Neeraj Santoshi, Dehradun

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Two people were killed after a truck plunged into a 100-metre-deep gorge in Uttarakhand’s Rudraprayag district, while rescue teams on Friday intensified the search for a 16-year-old boy swept away by the Ganga in Haridwar, police said.

A truck accident in Uttarakhand’s Rudraprayag killed two people, as rescue teams searched for a teenager swept away by the Ganga in Haridwar.

The district control room in Rudraprayag received information late on Thursday night that a truck had met with an accident near Tarsali, according to State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) officers. A joint rescue operation involving the SDRF, district police, Fire Service and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) was launched at the accident site.

Police identified the deceased as Sanjay Rana (45) and Mohan (36).

Officers said the team descended nearly 100 metres into the gorge using rope rescue techniques and located the crashed truck. The two men were brought out and handed over to the 108 ambulance service. Doctors declared them dead on arrival.

In a separate incident, the SDRF on Friday intensified its search for a teenager who went missing after being swept away by the strong current of the Ganga near Balram Ghat in Haridwar.

Police said Deepanshu (16), son of Sunil Kumar and a resident of Jatauli village in Gurugram district of Haryana, was bathing in the river near Saptarishi on Friday when he was swept away by the current.

Following information received through the disaster control room, Haridwar, an SDRF team led by Sub-Inspector Ashish Tyagi reached the spot with deep-diving and rescue equipment and launched an intensive search operation. The team searched several probable locations along the river but could not trace the teenager because of the strong current. Officials said the search operation was continuing.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Neeraj Santoshi
Neeraj Santoshi is the Chief of Bureau for Hindustan Times in Uttarakhand, where he leads the state reporting team while covering government, politics, environment, wildlife, Uttarakhand High Court, and issues shaping the Himalayan region. With more than two decades in journalism across conflict zones, he has covered politically sensitive regions and environmentally fragile landscapes, and focused on stories that combine public interest with in-depth storytelling. An alumnus of Pune University with a Master’s in Communication Studies, he has reported extensively from Jammu & Kashmir (2003-2010), Madhya Pradesh (2010 to 2018 ) and Uttarakhand (Since 2018), covering subjects ranging from insurgency, elections and governance to wildlife conservation, mining, climate change, agriculture, human rights and social justice. He has covered politics and legislative assemblies of both Jammu & Kashmir and Madhya Pradesh over more than a decade. Before taking over as Chief of Bureau in Uttarakhand, he served as Special Correspondent with Hindustan Times in Madhya Pradesh and earlier reported for both Hindustan Times and The Indian Express in Jammu & Kashmir, where he covered state politics, environment and insurgency-related developments. Over the years, his stories have focused on environmental degradation, wildlife, illegal mining, governance and the changing social fabric of Himalayan states and Central India. He is particularly interested in long-form explanatory journalism, and stories that explore the intersection of ecology, conservation, governance and society. Outside the newsroom, Neeraj enjoys reading widely on neuroscience, consciousness studies, Artificial Intelligence and quantum physics, with a special interest in Kashmiri Tantric Shaivist traditions. He is also passionate about wildlife, mountaineering and the Himalayas, interests that continue to inform his reporting and deepen his understanding of the region he covers.Read More

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