Two people have been killed and three others injured in a landslide which hit a trekking route to the Kedarnath Temple in Uttarakhand State, India, on Wednesday 18 June 2025. The incident happened at about 11.20 am local time, when rocks fell onto the path, knocking two palanquin operators, their female passenger and two porters into a gorge. The two deceased have been identified as Nitin Kumar, 18, and Chandrashekhar, palanquin operators from the town of Doda in Jammu and Kashmir. The two porters have been taken to a health centre in Gaurikund with serious injuries, while the woman escaped with minor injuries.
The palanquin bearers were reportedly hit while attempting to cross a debris field left by another landslide earlier in the week, in which another person was killed. Local press reports have suggested that they may have been inexperienced in the role. palanquins were formerly a common way for wealthier pilgrims to reach the Kedarnath Temple, but this has become less popular following the introduction of a helicopter service. However, this helicopter service has been suspended following a crash earlier this pilgrimage season, leading local entrepreneurs to resume palanquin services, often using inexperienced labourers as bearers.
The landslides appear to have been triggered by heavy rain associated with the annual monsoon. Landslides are a common problem after severe weather events, as excess pore water pressure can overcome cohesion in soil and sediments, allowing them to flow like liquids. Approximately 90% of all landslides are caused by heavy rainfall.
Monsoons are tropical sea breezes triggered by heating of the land during the warmer part of the year (summer). Both the land and sea are warmed by the Sun, but the land has a lower ability to absorb heat, radiating it back so that the air above landmasses becomes significantly warmer than that over the sea, causing the air above the land to rise and drawing in water from over the sea; since this has also been warmed it carries a high evaporated water content, and brings with it heavy rainfall. In the tropical dry season the situation is reversed, as the air over the land cools more rapidly with the seasons, leading to warmer air over the sea, and thus breezes moving from the shore to the sea (where air is rising more rapidly) and a drying of the climate. This situation is particularly intense in South Asia, due to the presence of the Himalayas. High mountain ranges tend to force winds hitting them upwards, which amplifies the South Asian Summer Monsoon, with higher winds leading to more upward air movement, thus drawing in further air from the sea.
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