SRINAGAR, July 2: Two more pilgrims, on their way to the Amarnath holy cave shrine in Kashmir, have died, police said Monday.
The fresh deaths have taken the toll up to 22 since the pilgrimage started on June 25.
Most of the pilgrims died due to cardiac arrest while moving towards the cave shrine which houses the Shivlingam or an ice stalagmite worshipped by the Hindus, 3880-metres up in the Kashmir Himalayas.
Police said Anita Chourasiya, 35, from Uttar Pradesh and Sadhu Ram, 34, from Uttrakhand died of heart attck at Brarimarg and Panjtarni areas on Sunday.
Another devotee, Mohan Lal from Delhi died at Anokhi Fall on the Srinagar-Jammu highway when a rock fell on him, they said.
On Monday, the ninth batch of 4,095 devotees left from the state’s winter capital Jammu to perform the pilgrimage which is set to conclude on August 2, coinciding with Hindu festival Raksha Bandhan.
The pilgrimage or yatra is going on smoothly from twin tracks of Baltal in Ganderbal district and Pahalgam in Anantnag, with over 1.5 lakh devotees having paid their obeisance at the cave shrine so far.
