Two people were found buried under debris after a wall collapsed in the Laxman Jhula area in Uttarakhand’s Rishikesh in the wee hours of Thursday in the wake of heavy rainfall, news agency ANI reported citing the authorities.

The State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) team was called into action to rescue the people who were trapped under the debris. “SDRF was informed by District Control Room Rishikesh that a wall has collapsed near Chaurasi Kutiya in Laxman Jhula area. In which two persons are buried. SDRF team is required for rescue. On the above information SDRF rescue team reached the spot,” ANI quoted the official statement.

“It was told by the police officer from the spot that two persons were buried in the said incident, out of which one injured has been rescued. SDRF’s search operation is on in search of another person,” the statement added.

Meanwhile, heavy rainfall continues to create wrath in Uttarakhand causing severe waterlogging in the Dhalwala and Khara regions of Rishikesh on Wednesday night. Many houses got submerged in water as the water level in the Rishikesh saline source rose, ANI reported quoting the officials.

The SDRF team reached the spot at night and rescued around t 50 people and took them to a safe place by raft.

“Late night the SDRF team was informed by Thana Munikireti that due to the rise in the water level in the Rishikesh saline source area, people’s houses have been flooded, in which the SDRF team is needed for the rescue of the trapped people,” the officials said.

State chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, meanwhile, said that several areas have been waterlogged and the SDRF and NDRF personnel had been deployed on the ground to carry out the rescue operations. The CM also advised Char Dham pilgrims to proceed on their journey after taking a weather update.

Nine people have died in separate rain-related incidents over the past 24 hours across Uttarakhand. Earlier, two siblings were killed and a third got injured when a landslide struck Gaurikund, the base camp of Kedarnath Yatra, in the early hours of Wednesday amid incessant rains. This was the second landslide in Gaurikund in five days.

Heavy rains have caused widespread damage in the hill state. The incessant rains have caused significant damage in many areas, including Rudraprayag, Pauri Garhwal, and Nainital districts, where bridges and roads have been washed away.

(With inputs from agencies)