Four more Amarnath pilgrims die, toll 22
20 July 2015 4:29 AM IST
Four more pilgrims died due to cardiac arrest enroute to the 3,880 metre-high cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir Himalayas, taking the death toll in the ongoing yatra to 22, officials said on Saturday.
47-year-old Satpal Gogyal, a Delhi resident, suffered cardiac arrest at Panjtarni along the traditional 45-km Pahalgam-cave route in Anantnag district last evening, the officials said. They said 29-year-old Amandeep, a resident of Punjab, died near the holy cave due to cardiac arrest. 60-year-old Ram Autar from Manipur died due to cardiac arrest at Panjtarni camp while Banu Dass of Maharashtra died at Baltal due to same reason, the officials said.
With the latest deaths along the twin routes, the toll in the ongoing yatra, which started on July 2, has risen to 22. The dead also included a CRPF jawan. So far, over 2.40 lakh pilgrims have paid obeisance at the cave shrine. Meanwhile, fresh batches of pilgrims were allowed to proceed to the holy cave shrine from both Baltal and Pahalgam routes this morning after suspension from the shorter route of Baltal due to the cloudburst.
Cloudbursts leave six dead in Kashmir
The death toll in the series of cloudbursts that struck on both Baltal and Pahalgam routes of the Amarnath Yatra went up to six, following the recovery of bodies of two missing persons on Saturday. The bodies of 32-year-old Rukhsana and her 4-year-old son Aquib were recovered on Saturday from Kullan area on Srinagar-Leh road where a cloudburst took place on Thursday evening, a police officer said. Four other persons, including 15-year-old Iqra Majid and 10-year-old Momin Ahmad Baba, both residents of village Kullan in Ganderbal district, were killed in the incident. One body, recovered from River Sindh, has not been identified so far, the officer said. A porter was also killed after being struck by lightning in Panjtarni area along the traditional Pahalgam route on Thursday night. The deceased was identified as Manzoor Ahmad Sheikh, the officer said.
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