One more yatri, ponnywalla die during Amarnath pilgrimage

Srinagar, June 26 (UNI) One more Amarnath pilgrim died of heart attack and a ponnywall was killed when a huge rock fell on him during the past 24 hours, official sources said today.

With this, a total of 15 pilgrims have died since the commencement of the two-month-long Amarnath pilgrimage on June 11.

The sources said 65-year-old Halda Nakar Datare, a resident of Gujarat, died of cardiac arrest at Sheshnag on way to the holy cave shrine of Amarnath from the traditional Pahalgham route last evening.

They said another pilgrim suffered injuries from the shorter Baltal route.

The sources said Sanjiv Kumar, a resident of Uttar Pradesh, fell down from a ponny at Brarimarg on way to the holy cave shrine from Baltal today.

He suffered multiple injuries and was rushed to the Bone and Joints Hospital here.

The sources said Ramees Paswal, a ponnywalla and a resident of Bahwaootu Pahalgam, died when a huge rock fell on him while taking bath at Chandanwari enroute the cave shrine yesterday. He died on the spot.

Meanwhile, the authorities have denied that a 12-year-old pilgrim, identified as Badal Gauri, had died on Saturday.

It was reported that the young pilgrim died when a huge rock fell on him at Chandanwari last evening.

The authorities said the name of the person was Ramees Paswal and not Badal Gauri.

UNI AG MIR KN2027