Three people were killed and 11 others were injured after a cloudburst triggered flash floods near the Baltal base camp of the Amarnath Yatra in Central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district on Friday evening.
All pilgrims, headed to the Amarnath shrine, are reportedly safe and 780 have already been moved to an Army camp.
“Two bodies of minors were found in the wee hours on Saturday which include a girl, aged 13 and a boy, aged 12… 11 have gone missing,” an official said.
Search and rescue operations have been launched to trace those missing. Those critically injured have been evacuated by helicopters.
Several people are stranded on the Srinagar-Leh highway which was closed last night following the flash floods.
Meanwhile, the yatra has been suspended from the Baltal route and the traffic on the Srinagar- Leh national highway is also suspended.
The Amarnath yatra has two treks, the traditional Pahalgam route and the shortest Baltal trek. Most often, the pilgrims chose the Baltal, which is 14 km from the base camp. The other trek of Pahalgam, which passes via 14500 feet high Mahagunus Pass to the cave, is approximately 30 km from the base camp.Â