Death toll in Amarnath cloudburst rises to 16; 15,000 stranded pilgrims evacuated

The death toll in the flash flood triggered by a cloudburst near the Amarnath cave shrine rose to 16 on Saturday while 15000 stranded pilgrims were shifted to the lower base camp of Panjtarni officials said on SaturdaySearches for the missing people continued without break after flash flood and landslides rummaged through tents and community kitchens on Friday afternoon Senior officials said 25 injured people have been shifted to hospitals while many people are believed to be still trapped under the debrisAccording to an Army official mountain rescue teams and lookout patrols and sniffer dogs have been pressed into the search and rescue operationAir rescue operations started Saturday morning and six pilgrims were evacuated by Army helicopters The military medical teams are receiving patients and casualties at the Nilagrar helipad for onward evacuation officials saidAn Mi17 chopper of the BSFs air wing has been pressed into service The Jammu and Kashmir administration has also deployed advanced light helicopters for the rescue operationsA Border Security Force BSF spokesperson in Delhi said 16 bodies have been shifted to BaltalAlso Read PHOTOS 10 dead 40 missing in Amarnath cloudburst rescue onThe ITBP has expanded its route opening and protection parties from the lower part of the holy cave up to Panjtarni a spokesperson of the force saidAdditional Director General of Jammu and Kashmir Police Vijay Kumar who holds charge of the Kashmir range reached the holy cave shrine on Saturday morning to supervise the rescue operations being conducted by security forces and the National Disaster Response ForceHe said the rescuers were clearing the debris to look for survivors as the administration was crosschecking the data of pilgrims to get the exact number of casualties Every pilgrim has been provided Radio Frequency Identification RFID card this time because of terror threatsThe annual pilgrimage which began on June 30 has been suspended following the tragedy and a decision on its resumption will be taken after rescue operations get over a senior administration official saidMost of the pilgrims who were stranded near the holy cave shrine area due to the flash flood that occurred Friday evening have been shifted to Panjtarni The evacuation continued till 338 amNo pilgrim is left on the track About 15000 people have been safely shifted till now the IndoTibetan Border Police ITBP spokesperson saidThe BSF spokesperson said doctors and medical staff of the paramilitary force treated nine patients who were critically injured in the floods They have been shifted to the loweraltitude Neelgrath base camp he said A team of BSF personnel has deployed at the Neelgrath helipad to assist the pilgrims coming from the cave shrineAbout 150 pilgrims stayed at the BSF camp set up in Panjtarni on Friday night and 15 patients have been airlifted to Baltal on Saturday morning he saidThe injured were being treated at the Nilkant camp in Sonamarg An integrated command centre has been set up under the charge of the divisional commissioner of Kashmir while helpline numbers have been established in Anantnag in South Kashmir Srinagar and in Delhi for families of pilgrims to know about the wellbeing of their kinThe 43day Amarnath Yatra is being held after a gap of three years In 2019 the pilgrimage was cancelled midway ahead of the Centre abrogating Article 370 provisions of the Constitution The pilgrimage did not take place in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid pandemicThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever