At least 16 people were killed and dozens more were swept away by the flash flood that was caused by a cloudburst near the revered cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir on Friday night. It also flooded tents and community kitchens.
Over 15,000 pilgrims have moved to the lower base camp, according to officials, while more than 40 people are still unaccounted for.
The lower Amarnath Cave site’s impacted region was searched for missing people throughout the night while the Indian Army and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, or ITBP, resumed the rescue effort. According to an official, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has dispatched three teams totaling roughly 75 rescuers.
Over 6,000 pilgrims depart Jammu for the base camps of Amarnath.
While the annual pilgrimage to the cave shrine in south Kashmir was suspended due to flash floods brought on by heavy rainfall, the 11th batch of over 6,000 Amarnath pilgrims departed Jammu city on Saturday for the twin base camps in Kashmir.
Yatris were killed in a flash
flood on Friday near the Amarnath cave shrine in Jammu and Kashmir, and cloudburst has been blamed as the cause. However, was it really a cloudburst? 13 pilgrims were murdered, according to J&K DGP Dilbag Singh, when a cloudburst struck the area at around 530 p.m.
“The incident is unfortunate. An investigation into the matter is necessary, govt needs to explain what happened. We also hope good compensation would be provided to families of deceased persons: J&K National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah on Amarnath cloudburst incident
