Sixteen people who were on a pilgrimage to the Amarnath shrine have died in an accident on Jammu-Srinagar National Highway. The bus carrying Amarnath pilgrims or yatris fell into a gorge along the highway this afternoon. Of the 29 people who have been injured, 18 have been airlifted to Jammu and 11 have been sent to Srinagar hospitals for treatment.
The accident took place in Ramban along the highway. The bus, part of the official Amarnath Yatra convoy, skidded off the road and rolled down into a ravine. Senior Superintendent of Police in the region, Mohan Lal said that the rescue operation was underway.
PM Modi expressed sadness over the accident. "I pray that those injured in the bus accident in J&K recover soon," he tweeted.
Last week, seven Amarnath pilgrims were killed in a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag. One more pilgrim died today. On Saturday, the sixteenth batch of 3,398 pilgrims - escorted by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel and police - left Jammu for the 3,888-metre Amarnath cave shrine of Lord Shiva in the Himalayas in south Kashmir.Extremely pained by the loss of lives of Amarnath Yatris due to a bus accident in J&K. My thoughts are with the families of the deceased.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) 16 July 2017