Gopeshwar: Five more bodies were recovered on Friday from the rain-ravaged villages in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district as rescue teams dug through debris and waded through sludge in search of the missing.

With this, the toll has climbed to seven. Two bodies were recovered on Thursday.

As rescuers pulled out the bodies, family members of the victims broke down.

Landslides and flooding triggered by heavy rain hit four villages -- Kuntari Laga Phali, Kuntari Laga Sarpani, Sera and Dhurma -- in Chamoli’s Nandanagar area, about 260 km from Dehradun and 50 km from Chamoli district headquarters at Gopeshwar, on Thursday.

Nandanagar is already reeling from land subsidence. Chamoli District Magistrate Sandeep Tiwari is in Nandanagar to oversee the search and rescue operations.

On Thursday, 12 people were injured, including five rescued alive from Kuntari Laga Phali and Dhurma villages. Those seriously injured are undergoing treatment at AIIMS, Rishikesh, officials said.

They said 95 people have been shifted to relief camps set up at Maria Ashram and Gala Godown with adequate supply of food and medicines. Meanwhile, moderate to heavy rain has affected several areas of Himachal Pradesh, leading to the closure of a total of 606 roads, including two national highways, officials said.

Additionally, thunderstorms were witnessed in Shimla, Kangra, Palampur, Murari Devi and Sundernagar while gusty winds with wind speed ranging between 33 to 35 kmph lashed Tabo and Bajaura, the Meteorological Department said.

The national highways affected are NH 3 (Attari-Leh road) and NH-503A (Amritsar-Bhota road). Kullu district experienced the highest number of closures, with 203 roads shut down, followed by Mandi with 198 roads and Shimla district with 51 roads, according to the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC).