2 Amarnath yatris die, toll rises to 28

Srinagar, Jul 23: Two more pilgrims died due to cardiac arrest enroute to the 3,880 metre-high cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir Himalayas, taking the death toll in the ongoing yatra to 28, officials said on Thursday.

Bhupinder Singh, a resident of Rajasthan, died at Pissutop early this morning due to cardiac arrest, the officials said.

They said Gita Devi (65), a resident of Madhya Pradesh, died due to cardiac arrest at Zigibal yesterday. The latest deaths raised the toll in the ongoing yatra, which started on July 2, to 28.

The dead included 26 pilgrims, a CRPF jawan and a ponywalla. So far, 2.80 lakh pilgrims have paid obeisance at the cave shrine which houses the naturally formed ice-shivlingam.

PTI