Two pilgrims undertaking the Amarnath yatra in the south Kashmir Himalayas have died, raising the overall death toll for this year's pilgrimage to 27, according to officials, news agency PTI reported. "Eight CRPF personnel on their way to offer prayers at cave shrine injured in road accident in Jammu and Kashmir's Ganderbal district," officials said.
According to the authorities, Urmilaben Modi, 53, passed away on Saturday after being struck by a flying stone on the bottom portion of the Amarnath cave temple.
According to them, the event resulted in injuries to two members of the mountain rescue team and one other pilgrim.
Meghnath (65), a resident of Chhattisgarh, was discovered unconscious on Sunday at Pissutop along the Pahalgam route to the temple. He was brought to a hospital, where, according to the authorities, the staff immediately proclaimed him dead.
They said that while travelling to the Amarnath shrine via the Baltal road, eight members of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were hurt when their car rolled into the Sindh nullah near Ganderbal.
According to them, the wounded were saved and transferred to the hospital at Baltal Base Camp.
On July 1, the 62-day journey began at the twin tracks of Pahalgam in the Anantnag district and Baltal in the Ganderbal region. A total of 1,62,569 pilgrims have travelled thus far to see the famed cave shrine's natural ice lingam structure, which is situated at an elevation of 3,888 metres.
The pilgrimage is still going on despite the recent tragic events, and there are still security precautions and medical facilities in place to ensure the pilgrims' protection. On August 31, the yatra is supposed to come to an end.
Three years have passed since the last time the pilgrimage was held. In 2019, the pilgrimage was cancelled in the middle before the Centre abrogated the provisions of Article 370. In 2020 and 2021, the pilgrimage was postponed because to the Covid-19 pandemic.