16 dead, 35 injured as bus carrying Amarnath pilgrims falls into gorge

In yet another tragic incident, 16 Amarnath pilgrims killed and 35 others were left injured as vehicle carrying them falls into gorge on Jammu-Srinagar National Highway in Ramban district.

Picture courtesy: AIR Twitter handle

New Delhi: In yet another tragic incident, 16 Amarnath pilgrims killed and 35 others were left injured as vehicle carrying 46 people falls into gorge on Jammu-Srinagar National Highway in Ramban district. Police sources said the bus bearing registration No. Jk02Y-0594 spun out of the driver's control at Nachnala and rolled into the gorge.The accident occurred at around 1.45 PM.

Rescue operation by the police and the Ramban administration is underway. The 90th and 40th battalions of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were deployed at the spot to prevent further untoward incidents thereafter. Apart from these, an Air Force chopper has also been deployed to airlift seriously injured pilgrims. 

The Jammu and Kashmir Police on twitter confirmed the casualties. Taking to Twitter it posted, "16 dead; 19 injured being airlifted for treatment. 8 minor injuries."

Ramban accident update. 16 dead; 19 injured being airlifted for treatment. 8 minor injuries.

— J&K Police (@JmuKmrPolice) July 16, 2017

#WATCH: Rescue operation by Army underway as bus carrying Amarnath Yatra pilgrims fell off road on Jammu-Srinagar highway in Ramban, 11 dead pic.twitter.com/f1anBmdtdd

— ANI (@ANI_news) July 16, 2017

The accident comes just few days after terrorists 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.

This morning 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, a police official had said.

Earlier in the day, a fresh batch of 3,603 pilgrims left Jammu for the Kashmir Valley  to perform the annual Amarnath Yatra. 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.