Amarnath attack: Woman pilgrim succumbs to injuries, death toll climbs to eight

Srinagar: A woman devotee, injured in the deadly militant attack on Amarnath pilgrims, succumbed at a hospital early today, taking the death toll in the incident to eight. 47-year-old Lalita succumbed to injuries at the SKIMS Hospital here, a police official said.

Terrorists on Monday night killed seven Amarnath pilgrims from Gujarat as they struck at a bus in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag district, in the worst attack on the annual pilgrimage since the year 2000.

The bus bearing the registration number GJ09Z 9976 was attacked at around 8.20 pm near Khanabal when it was on its way to Jammu, police said.

Meanwhile, a  fresh batch of 3,603 pilgrims left Jammu for the Kashmir Valley on Sunday to perform the annual Amarnath Yatra. "A fresh batch of 3,603 pilgrims left the Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas in an escorted convoy of 153 vehicles at 3.25 a.m.," officials said. 

Nearly 9,000 pilgrims reached the shrine located at 3,888 metres above sea-level on Saturday which marked the 17th day of the ongoing 40-day yatra.

So far this year, over 2 lakh pilgrims have performed the yatra which is slated to end on August 7 on Shravan Purnima coinciding with Raksha Bandhan festival.

The cave houses an ice stalagmite structure that waxes and wanes with the size of the moon. 

Devotees believe the ice stalagmite structure symbolises mythical powers of Lord Shiva.

The pilgrims reach the shrine either from the traditional 46 km long mountain track from the Pahalgam base camp or through the 14 km track from the Baltal base camp.

Over 35,000 security personnel drawn from the Army, Central Reserve Police Force, Sashastra Seema Bal, Indo Tibetan Border Police and the state police have been deployed to provide security to the pilgrims.

The security heightened after terrorists attacked a yatra bus on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway. The 40-day yatra had began on June 28. The pilgrimage is scheduled to conclude on the Shravan Purnima (Raksha Bandhan) on August 7.

(With inputs from agencies)