Dehradun: Two brothers from Lucknow lost their lives after being struck by lightning on the Chandrashila trek route near Tungnath, which is considered the world's highest Shiva temple, on Friday. Two of their companions survived despite being caught in severe weather conditions in the high-altitude area.
Incident Details
Abhinav Vajpayee, 19, son of Sanjeet Kumar, died instantly after the lightning strike. His elder brother, Abhishek Vajpayee, 22, was brought down during a rescue operation but succumbed to his injuries while receiving treatment at the primary health centre (PHC) in Ukhimath. The deceased were residents of the Transport Nagar area in Lucknow. Shubham Shukla, 25, from Unnao, and Aajan Mishra, 24, from Lucknow, were found safe.
Police Statement
Ukhimath police station in-charge, sub-inspector Manoj Negi, confirmed that both brothers were students who had come to Chandrashila for trekking. “After the post-mortem, the bodies were handed over to the family members on Saturday. Both were students and hailed from Transport Nagar area of Lucknow. They had come to Chandrashila for trekking,” Negi said.
Rescue Operation
The State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) received an alert from the State Emergency Operation Centre in Dehradun about a group stranded in the Tungnath area due to bad weather, with some individuals affected by a lightning strike. In response, a team from the SDRF post at Ratuda rushed to the location with rescue equipment. During the initial relief operation, Abhishek was brought to Chopta and then sent to PHC Ukhimath in an ambulance.
Despite adverse weather conditions at night, challenging mountainous terrain, and a trekking route spanning nearly 8 to 10 kilometers, SDRF personnel moved from Chopta towards Chandrashila and reached the spot late in the night. The team recovered Abhinav's body and brought it down to Chopta after trekking through the difficult route.
