Officials said a huge landslide hit the old track of Vaishno Devi pilgrimage in Rasi district of Jammu and Kashmir on Monday, injuring at least 10 people, including five pilgrims, said the officials.
Officials said a booking office and an overhead iron structure came under the weight of landslide, started with heavy rain, killing the city of Katra, the base camp for pilgrims going to Trishna Tricuta hills, he said.
Mandra has been suspended till 1 pm as a precautionary remedy.
The incident occurred at 8.30 am in Gulshan’s anchor near Banganga, the initial point for the journey where most of the Pony riders gather with the old track and register the pilgrims at the cave temple, 12 km from the city, before carrying pilgrims.
Sachin Kumar Vaishiya, Chief Executive Officer of Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, told reporters, “Three persons suffered serious injuries and seven others suffered minor injuries. All the injured were rescued and rushed to the hospital.”
The Vaishya, who is also the District Magistrate Jammu, reached the spot and said that a complete rescue and rubble withdrawal operation is going on.
Officials said a rescue operation was immediately launched by local volunteers, Shrine Board Staff, SDRF, Police and CRPF personnel.
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He said that an earth-prone was also run to speed up the efforts to rescue, he said.
Seriously injured – Chennai’s Upapan (70), his wife’s Radha (66), and Rajinder Bhalla (70) of Haryana were admitted to Narayan Hospital, while Leela Raikwar (56) in Uttar Pradesh was treated at the Community Health Center Katra, said the officials said.
He said that Suresh Kumar (66) of Maharashtra and two local people Nikhil Thakur (26) and Vicky Sharma were discharged after first aid.
Thakur told PTI on the phone after receiving treatment for his foot injury at the Community Health Center, “I was inside the booking office when the stones started killing overhead iron structure and we alerted others and ran away fearfully.”
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He said that there was a small group of devotees and pony riders in the scene in view of heavy rains.
According to the Meteorological Department, Katra Town recorded 184.2 mm rainfall in the last 24 hours on Monday morning at 8.30 am.
Another landslide blocked the new track near Hakoti on Sunday night and efforts are on to restore it.
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