| 5 Yatris, CRPF man die; toll reaches 13 | | | Javaid Naikoo
Early Times Report
sRINAGAR, July 15: Five more Amarnath Yatris and a paramilitary CRPF trooper have died of natural causes, taking the death toll during the ongoing pilgrimage to 13 so far. Rameshvarji, 65, of Madhya Pradesh and Nandni Singh, 45, of Maharashtra died along the Baltal route in Ganderbal district, while another pilgrim, Sanjay Nodia, 46, of Pune breathed his last along the Pahalgam route on Tuesday, officials said. They said two more pilgrims died a day earlier near the cave shrine. The CRPF trooper, Sunil Kumar Yadav, 33, a resident of Uttar Pradesh died of cardiac arrest at the lower cave site during his official duty hours, the official said.
With these, the death toll in the ongoing yatra has gone up to 13. In view of the deaths caused by cardiac arrests, the yatris have been advised not to trek alone and travel in a group on the yatra route to enable prompt action to be taken in case an emergency arises. Officials have also advised yatris to carry their permit and other identity proofs with them, besides taking due care of the environment throughout the pilgrimage period.
The yatra was halted for two days because of intermittent rains. However, the two-month Yatra, which began on July 2, is going on smoothly from both Pahalgam and Baltal base camps.
According to officials, till July 14, nearly two lakh yatris have paid obeisance at the cave shrine.
Meanwhile, on the 15th day of the Yatra today, around 20,000 pilgrims left base camps for the holy cave via both Baltal and Pahalgam routes. Authorities have made three-tier arrangements from Jawahar Tunnel to Pahalgam and Baltal base camp for the pilgrims' security. |
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