Two more Amarnath pilgrims die, toll mounts to 14

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Two more pilgrims, including a woman, died en route 3,880-mt high Amarnath cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas even as the number of devotees paying obeisance at the temple crossed the one lakh mark. Forty-year-old Rekha, a resident of Gujarat, died of cardiac arrest at the shrine last night, officials said.

Hailing from Haryana, Jagbir Singh, aged 64, died of a massive heart attack at Panjtarni on traditional Phalgam route yesterday, they said.

With this, the death toll since the commencement of the annual pilgrimage rose to 14, the officials said. The Yatra commenced on June 25 from twin tracks of Baltal in Ganderbal district and Pahalgam in Anantnag, and as many as 1,16,403 pilgrims have so far offered prayers at the shrine. The pilgrimage is going on smoothly from both the routes, the officials said.

In Jammu, a fresh batch of 3,348 pilgrims left for the cave shrine early this morning.

The devotees including 922 women, 79 children and 148 sadhus left in a cavalcade of 122 vehicles from Bhagwati Nagar base camp at around 0500 hours.