5 Dead After Landslide On Route To Amarnath Shrine In Jammu And Kashmir

Five people died and four were injured after a landslide triggered by flash floods hit the Amarnath yatra pilgrims near Brarimarg in Jammu and Kashmir today.

Brarimarg falls on the Baltal route of the Amarnath yatra.

"A landslide hit between Railpatri and Brarimarg on the Baltal route," a police official said.

Rescue teams are at the spot and the injured are being shifted to hospital. One of them is said to be critical.

Earlier in the day, three pilgrims - including two from Andhra Pradesh - died en route to the Amarnath shrine. The total number of deaths in this year's yatra now stands at 11.

Thota Radhnam, a 75-year-old woman from Fiwalayam in Andhra Pradesh, died of suspected cardiac arrest in a community kitchen at Baltal base camp this morning.

Radha Krishna Sastry, 65, from Anantpora in Andhra Pradesh, also died due to cardiac arrest at Sangam near the Amarnath shrine.

An official said the bodies of the two pilgrims have been kept at the Baltal base camp hospital for further legal proceedings.

Pushkar Joshi, a resident of Uttarakhand, who was injured due to a shooting stone between Brarimarg and Railpathri on Monday, died at a hospital in Srinagar early on Tuesday.

Amid tight security, nearly 3,500 pilgrims left for the Amarnath yatra from Jammu as part of the sixth batch today. 

So far, 36,366 pilgrims have visited the 3,888-metre-high cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas by taking the 36-km Pahalgam track in Anantnag district and 12-km Baltal route in Ganderbal since the start of the annual 60-day pilgrimage on June 28.

Despite heavy rains and threat of flash floods, the yatra to the shrine commenced as per scheduled on June 28 after several hours of delay.

The 60-day yatra will conclude on August 26 coinciding with 'Raksha Bandhan'.

With inputs from PTI