Boulder falls near Kedarnath base camp, kills labourer

Dehradun: One person was killed and another injured after a boulder rolled down a hillside and struck temporary shops near Sonprayag, the base camp for the Kedarnath yatra, on Friday morning.Rudraprayag disaster management officer Nanda Singh Rajwar said labourers Ummed Singh Negi, 48, a resident of Bareth village, and Bam Bahadur, 42, a resident of Nepal, were trapped under the boulder and taken to a nearby hospital. Negi later succumbed to injuries, while Bahadur is undergoing treatment.Following the incident, district authorities closed around six temporary shops near the spot where the boulder fell. “The unauthorised shops sell prasad, raincoats and other yatra-related items.” Rajwar said.The incident comes days after a landslide near Munkatiya on the Sonprayag-Gaurikund highway stranded more than 10,000 pilgrims on the Kedarnath route. All stranded pilgrims were later evacuated and no injuries were reported.