Amarnath cloudburst: 16 dead, rescue ops in full force as hunt on for missing pilgrims - 10 points

Srinagar: A cloud burst incident near the holy shrine of Amarnath has left pilgrims in disarray with the incident claiming at least 16 lives. More than 40 people are missing, officials said, and the Indian Army, Indian Air Force, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) State Disaster Response Force (SDRF),  Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and others continue to be involved in the rescue operations.  Here are 10 key updates:

1) As the rescue operations continue, the foot yatra has been temporarily suspended. NDRF DG Atul Karwal said that there were "16 confirmed deaths and about 40 still seem to be missing". 

2) The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) on Saturday informed that about 15,000 people were safely shifted till now after the cloudburst incident near the holy shrine of Amarnath on Friday. In a statement, the ITBP said, "Most of the yatris who were stranded near Holy cave area due to flash flood last evening have been shifted to Panjtarni. ITBP had expanded its Route opening and protection parties from Lower Holy cave to Panjtarni. The evacuation continued till 3.38 AM. No yatri is left on the track. About 15,000 people were safely shifted till now."

3) Continuous debris clearing and search for missing continue near the cloudburst-affected areas, officials informed.

4) The IAF officials said that 29 people were rescued by them of whom 9 were heavily injured.

5) BSF MI-17 chopper has been pressed into action to air transport injured persons and dead bodies as well from Neelgrah helipad/ Baltal to BSF Camp Srinagar for further treatment or further ferrying bodies to their homes.

6) The Indian Air Force has deployed 2 each ALH Dhruv and Mi-17 V5 helicopters from Srinagar for the rescue operations in the Amarnath cave site. One AN-32 and Ilyushin-76 transport aircraft are on stand-by in Chandigarh for further requirements, IAF officials said. 

7) The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Friday set up a helpline for the Amarnath Yatra. "Helpline numbers for Amarnath Yatra: NDRF: 011-23438252 011-23438253; Kashmir Divisional Helpline: 0194-2496240; Shrine Board Helpline: 0194-2313149," the public relations department of the government and the SASB tweeted from their respective handles.

8) A cloudburst triggered flash floods in Jammu and Kashmir's Doda district on Saturday, causing minor damage to some vehicles, officials said. The cloudburst occurred around 4 am in Gunti forest area in Thathri belt, resulting in heavy flash floods, they said. No casualty has been reported in the incident, an officer said.

9) From Rahul Gandhi, Narendra Modi, Arvind Kejriwal to Amit Shah, top leaders expressed grief and concern at the tragedy.

10) A decision on resumption of the pilgrimage will be taken after rescue operations are completed, an official said.