Kedarnath: ‘I watched my wife being swept away by the torrent’

“Around 6.30 in the morning on Monday,some of us had come out of Bharatpur House,where we were staying,to collect rainwater. We were walking the 50 metres to the temple when we saw a huge chunk of ice and rock breaking not far away,and heard commotion and shouting,” Jadaun said.

“Local pandas were telling people to run to high ground as the glacier broke up and a huge stream came rushing down the mountain. We ran back to our house. There was a mad scramble to climb the stairs to the third floor as everyone tried to reach as high as they could. There was pushing and jostling.

“I was ahead of my wife. She was at the back of the crowd on the second floor when the water reached. It swept her away,tossing her along with rocks and huge blocks of ice,” Jadaun said. “I saw her being washed away.”

Jadaun and the others stayed on the third floor of the building for a full 24 hours until the water receded. He then searched the entire devastated vicinity of the temple for his wife but could not find her.

There were many bodies strewn around,Jadaun said. “Laashein badi sankhya mein padi huin thi.”

At Jolly Grant airport,Jadaun and a second survivor from the group,Radha Mohan Soni,were mobbed by people who had had no news of relatives or friends stranded in the mountains since the rain and landslides began. They all showed the two men pictures of near and dear ones,asking if they recognised any.

Jadaun and Soni said a 60-year-old woman in their group died of the cold and shock in the aftermath of the flood,as they desperately searched for survivors or bodies. “We have lost everything,” said Jadaun,adding that the dead woman,Leela,was a close relative. Her body,Jadaun said,continues to lie near the temple.

Once the rescue helicopters landed,the women began to be evacuated first. Soni and Jadaun were airlifted from another spot about five kilometres from the temple. “There was space for only two of us,” Soni said. “Others of our group were waiting for their chance to be airlifted.”