Four people, including one from Bengaluru, were killed and nine injured in a landslide triggered by heavy rain en route to the cave shrine of Vaishno Devi in Jammu & Kashmir’s Reasi district.
The landslide occurred on Banganga-Ardhkuwari road around midnight on Friday and the debris fell on a shelter where the pilgrims were sitting, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Shri Mata Vaishnodevi Shrine Board (SMVDSB) Ajeet Sahu said.
“Three pilgrims, including a 5-year-old, died on the spot and another person was brought dead to the hospital,” the CEO said.
The deceased are: 29-year-old Shashidhar Kumar of Bengaluru, 30-year-old Bindu Sahni and her 5-year-old son Vishal from Chhattisgarh, besides 32-year-old Sadik of Reasi, a ponywallah, adds DHNS from Srinagar.
Some of the injured were identified as Suraj Kant Sahni of Chhattisgarh, Ved Singh, Naryani and Om Prakash of Haryana, and Paras and Santosh of Bengaluru.
The yatra to the cave shrine, which was disrupted for some hours, later resumed, Additional Superintendent of Police (Reasi) Sanjay Rana said.
While, seven of them were given first aid, two others were admitted to a hospital with serious injuries, he said.
Sahu said the incident occurred following heavy rainfall the previous night.
“Our team went to the site as soon as the incident was reported,” he said.
Published 06 August 2016, 20:51 IST