Jammu Tawi, Jul 10: A 61-year-old Amarnath Yatra pilgrim from Nepal died after falling seriously ill in Banihal while on his return journey from the cave shrine, officials said.
The deceased, identified as Krishan Dev Thakur, a resident of Mohatri in Kathmandu, became unconscious near the Navyuga Tunnel in Banihal while returning through the Baltal route, they said.
He was taken to the healthcare facility at the Lamber yatra ground and referred to the Sub-District Hospital (SDH), Banihal. Later, he was shifted to the Government Medical College in Anantnag, where he died during treatment on Thursday, the officials said.
Six Amarnath pilgrims were injured, one of them critically, when a vehicle carrying them overturned on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway in Udhampur district on Friday, officials said.
The accident took place near Toldi Nallah on the Udhampur-Chenani stretch of the highway when the vehicle carrying the pilgrims to the Pahalgam base camp skidded off the road and overturned, they said.
In a separate incident, four registered Amarnath pilgrims sustained minor injuries after the taxi carrying them to the Baltal base camp met with an accident in Banihal, they said.
The injured were identified as Varesh Yadav (44) and Usha Devi (55), both residents of Faridabad in Haryana, and Natasha Sharma (28) and Neharka (20), both residents of Uttarakhand.
Officials said the injured were shifted by police and emergency response teams to SDH, Banihal, where they were administered first aid.
Hospital authorities said all four pilgrims were in stable condition and under observation.
The police have initiated an investigation into the cause of the accident, the officials added.
The injured pilgrims, all residents of Baikunthpur in Madhya Pradesh’s Rewa district, were rescued by personnel of the CRPF, Army, Civil Defence, Traffic Police and Jammu and Kashmir Police and shifted to the Government Medical College (GMC) Hospital, Udhampur.
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha said one of the pilgrims was critically injured and shifted to GMC Jammu, while the other five were in stable condition and undergoing treatment at GMC Udhampur.
“Received the report of a road accident near Toldi Nallah in Udhampur involving six Amarnath Ji Yatra pilgrims from Rewa, Madhya Pradesh. The devotees were travelling to the Pahalgam base camp for the holy cave darshan when their vehicle skidded off the road,” Sinha said in a post on X. “I pray to Lord Shiva for their swift recovery,” the Lieutenant Governor said.
