Due to adverse weather, the Amarnath Yatra has been halted from Jammu, and no new batch has been permitted to go from here to the base camps of the 3,880-metre-high cave shrine in the south Kashmir Himalayas, authorities said, news agency PTI reported.
On Friday afternoon, a flash flood caused by a cloudburst near the cave shrine killed at least 16 people. Around 40 persons are still unaccounted for.
"Amarnath Yatra has been suspended from Jammu to twin base camps in Kashmir due to inclement weather. No fresh batch was allowed to move towards Amarnath" an official informed PTI.
On June 30, the annual 43-day pilgrimage began from the twin base camps of Nunwan-Pahalgam in south Kashmir's Anantnag and Baltal in central Kashmir's Ganderbal.
According to authorities, over one lakh pilgrims have offered prayers at the cave sanctuary that houses the naturally formed ice'shivling.'
Since June 29, when the first batch of pilgrims was set off by Lt Governor Manoj Sinha, 69,535 pilgrims have left in 10 batches from the Bhagwati Nagar base camp in Jammu for the Valley.
The yatra is set to finish on August 11th, the day of Raksha Bandhan.
No Bodies Recovered Overnight, Devotees Not Allowed Ahead Of Base Camp: Army
Rescue operations at the sacred cave sanctuary of Amarnath continued into the night after a flash flood caused by a highly localised rain washed away hundreds of pilgrims, killing at least 16, according to the Indian Army, news agency ANI reported.
"Amarnath Rescue Operations continued overnight. No further bodies recovered. No movement of devotees allowed ahead of base camps. Convoys permitted only to Jammu from base camp areas. Addl portable through-wall radar, earth-moving equipment being inducted," Indian Army was quoted as saying by ANI on its official Twitter handle.
"Security personnel & admin carried out an efficient rescue operation. We pay condolences to those who lost their lives. Efforts are underway to resume the Yatra along with repairing the path. Pilgrims should come, we will provide them with all facilities," LG Manoj Sinha was quoted by ANI on its official Twitter handle.
(With Agencies Inputs)