649 pilgrims leave for Amarnath

Jammu, Aug 10 (UNI) A batch of 649 pilgrims today left for Pahalgam and Baltal base camps from where they would move towards the holy cave shrine of Amarnath in South Kashmir, official sources said.

The convoy of 18 vehicles, including 15 buses and three light motor vehicles (LMV), left from the base camp of Maulana Azad Memorial (MAM) stadium for Nunwan (Pahalgam) and Baltal yatra camps at 0505 hrs amid tight security.

The pilgrims include 339 men, 95 women, 12 children and 203 sadhus.

With today's convoy, the 40th this year, a total of 53,923 pilgrims have left for the holy shrine from the Jammu base camp since July 2, sources added.

UNI