36 Amarnath Pilgrims Injured in Multi-Bus Collision Near Ramban

“I directed the officials concerned to implement comprehensive safety measures for vehicles of pilgrims undertaking Shri Amarnath Ji Yatra and ensure safety checks at all key locations and uninterrupted availability of food and medicines at Yatra route", an official statement issued here quoted Sinha as saying.

The Lt. Governor, terming it a minor accident, said that the injured were discharged after preliminary treatment and are now on their way to Amarnath cave-shrine tucked away in the Kashmir Himalayas. “By the blessings of Lord Shiva, all the devotees are safe. Our priority is the safety of all pilgrims”, he said.

The official statement said that Sinha spoke with Jammu’s Divisional Commissioner Ramesh Kumar and Ramban’s Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Alyas Khan to urge them to provide all necessary assistance to injured pilgrims. He asked the senior officials to remain on alert and ensure all necessary arrangements for hassle-free journey of pilgrims

The police said that, as per the preliminary investigation, the accident occurred around 8 am on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway (NH 44) when a bus in a convoy heading to the Pahalgam base camp suffered brake failure, causing a chain collision that damaged four to five vehicles. However, J&K’s Minister for Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs, Satish Sharma has ordered a thorough investigation “to determine the exact cause behind the tragic accident”.

Initial reports had put the number of injured at 25. However, the official sources said that as many as 36 people were treated at Ramban District Hospital, with most discharged immediately after first aid and able to continue their journey. They added that the district administration and CRPF provided prompt medical and logistical support, replacing damaged buses to ensure the pilgrimage continued. A CRPF spokesman said that a mobile medical team of its 84th Battalion rushed to the spot to provide first aid to the injured pilgrims who were subsequently shifted to the district hospital.

The buses were part of a convoy headed for Pahalgam base camp in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district from Jammu’s Bhagwati Nagar base camp. The injured pilgrims are from Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, the police sources said.

Ramban’s DC Khan said that the last vehicle of the convoy lost control and hit stranded vehicles at the Chanderkote Langer site, damaging four vehicles and causing minor injuries to 36 pilgrims. He added that the government officials already present at the site rushed the injured to the nearby district hospital. Ramban Medical Superintendent Sudarshan Singh Katoch confirmed that the injured pilgrims were discharged immediately after first aid.

Earlier the fourth batch of 6,979 pilgrims — 5,196 men, 1,427 women, 24 children, 331 sadhus and sadhvis, and one transgender — had left Bhagwati Nagar base camp in two separate convoys between 3.30 am and 4.05 am.

While 4,226 pilgrims left in 161 vehicles for Nunwan (Pahalgam) base camp for the 48-kilometre traditional Pahalgam route, 2,753 pilgrims headed for the shorter but steeper 14-kilometre Baltal route in 151 vehicles.

On Friday, a pilgrim Dileep Srivastav, resident of Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhmipur Kheri area, fell unconscious at Sheshnag halting place along the Pahalgam axis. He was immediately shifted to a base-camp hospital where he passed away, the police sources said.

The 38-day pilgrimage began on July 3 from both traditional Pahalgam and shorter Baltal routes and, as per official statistics, more than thirty thousand devotees have after taking arduous journey through rugged mountains on foot or by using horses, ponies or palanquins paid obeisance at Amarnath and have the darshan of fully formed natural Shivling or ice-lingam of Lord Shiva inside the revered cave-shrine situated at a height of a height of 13,000 feet (3,882 m), so far.