Of the total pilgrims who left on Friday, 3,350 yatris travelled in an escorted convoy to the Baltal base camp at 2.42 am, while 5,346 pilgrims departed for the Nunwan base camp in Pahalgam at 3.24 am

A total of 8,796 pilgrims, including 33 foreigners, departed from the Bhagwati Nagar base camp in Jammu for the annual Amarnath Yatra under multi-tier security. More than 1.73 lakh devotees have offered prayers at the holy cave shrine since the pilgrimage began on July 2.