On Saturday morning, at least 36 Amarnath pilgrims, that included children, suffered minor injuries after 5 buses of the Pahalgam-bound convoy collided with each other in Ramban district, officials said. Ramban Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Alyas Khan shared, “The last vehicle of the Pahalgam convoy lost control and hit stranded vehicles at the Chanderkot Langer site, damaging four vehicles and causing minor injuries to 36 yatris.” He also visited the hospital where the injured pilgrims are being treated.
As per Kulbir Singh, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) of Ramban, this accident happened when the convoy was stopping so that pilgrims could have breakfast, and it was then the last bus hit the four buses and the accident happened. “Prima facie, it appeared to be a case of brake failure. After the last bus hit the stationary convoy, it triggered a chain reaction, and in the process, four buses were hit,” Singh said. He added, however, the majority of pilgrims have suffered very little or minor injuries and are under treatment at the hospital in the district.
He shared that the pilgrims have requested to resume their pilgrimage and buses have been arranged for the same; a few are still under observation and haven’t been able to resume the pilgrimage.
Talking about the convoy and the arrangements, Singh disclosed that a convoy of 110 had left J&K in the early hours of Saturday. This is the fourth batch comprising 6,979 pilgrims, which includes 5,196 men, 1,427 women, 24 children, 331 sadhus and sadhvis, and one transgender person. “Two separate convoys between 3:30 am and 4:05 am amid tight security left for the shrine,” Singh added.
After this fresh batch of pilgrims, the total count of pilgrims is 24,528 who have left the Jammu base camp for the Valley since Wednesday.
Owing to the Pahalgam terror attack which took place on April 22 in which 26 tourists were killed mercilessly, this yatra is taking place under very tight security. Till date, 3.5 lakh people have registered online for the pilgrimage.
To ensure safety and smooth pilgrimage, 34 accommodation centres have been set up across Jammu, and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags are being issued to the pilgrims. Besides, 12 counters have been set up for on-the-spot registration of pilgrims.
