Eight pilgrims from Andhra dead in Uttarakhand floods

The Andhra Pradesh government today said that eight pilgrims from the state, who were caught in massive Uttarakhand floods, died even as 2,542 more were still stranded in the north hill state.
A press release from the Chief Minister's Office here said so far 500 pilgrims safely reached New Delhi from Uttarakhand while some more pilgrims from Dehradun and Haridwar were being transported in special buses to the national capital.
Of the eight pilgrims who died in Uttarakhand, five belonged to Visakhapatnam and one from Anantapur.
The 20-year-old youth from Anantapur was identified as Veerabhadra Swami and was cremated at Gourikund.

Information about some other pilgrims was unavailable, the release added.
The state government requested the railways to arrange additional coaches and also special trains from New Delhi to AP to bring back the pilgrims.
State Labour Minister Danam Nagender left for New Delhi to supervise relief operations while the Chief Minister also asked Union Minister of State for Social Justice Balram Naik to co-ordinate the efforts.
State Disaster Management Commissioner T Radha and senior IAS officer Sanjay Kumar, who hails from Uttarakhand, are currently stationed in Dehradun to monitor rescue and relief operations, the CMO release said.