New Delhi, Jul 30 (PTI) Authorities from India and Nepal have launched a hunt for a Nepalese national who is reported to have been washed away on Friday in river Kali that flows along the international border between the two countries in Uttarakhand, officials said.

The man is stated to have jumped in the river from the carriage of the tuin (a makeshift ropeway with a box attached for seating) he was clinging to after he saw an approaching patrol of the India-Nepal border guarding force Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB).

Officials said the man was crossing over to the Indian side "illegally" using the tuin and was coming from Darchula in Nepal to Gasku in Dharchula in Uttarakhand's Pithoragarh district.

The SSB, its Nepalese counterpart Armed Police Force (APF) and local authorities from both the sides are coordinating to trace the man, they said.

The SSB troops who were present on the spot later wound up the tuin arrangement to ensure that such illegal attempts to cross the border are thwarted in the future, the officials said.

Some others waiting on the Nepalese side to cross using the tuin and its operators ran away soon after they saw the SSB patrol, the officials said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)