Tragedy strikes day one of Amarnath Yatra, shooting stone kills pilgrim

The Yatra commenced on Thursday with over 6,000 pilgrims leaving to the holy caves in the Himalayas.

An Amarnath Yatra pilgrim was killed by shooting stone on Thursday at the Baltal base camp in central Kashmir. The pilgrim was identified as Bhushan Kotwal, a 50-year-old resident of Jammu.

Kotwal was hit by a shooting stone while on his way to the caves near Baltal base camp in Ganderbal district. Officials claimed that a shooting stone that came rolling down from a hillock hit him. Kotwal sustained grievous injuries after the stone hit him while he was crossing Brarimarg area on a 16-km Baltal-cave route. While he was quickly moved to the Base Camp hospital, doctors declared him dead on arrival.

Kotwal was on the shortest, Baltal route to the holy Amarnath cave shrine this morning when he was injured by a shooting stone at around 9. Earlier in the day, Sanjun Singh, an Assistant Sub-inspector of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police died of a massive cardiac arrest. The 42-year-old special forces staff was a resident of Rajasthan. He is said to have died after suffering a massive heart attack in Bararimarg area on the Baltal track.

OneIndia News