Six Amarnath pilgrims killed in road accident

JAMMU - Six Amarnath pilgrims were killed and two others injured Saturday when the vehicle in which they were travelling skidded off the road and fell into a gorge on the Jammu-Srinagar highway, police said.

According to police, the accident occurred as the driver of the vehicle failed to negotiate a sharp curve on the mountainous road at Ramsoo, 170 km north of Jammu. Police rescue teams rushed to the spot and recovered the bodies.

“All the killed yatris (pilgrims) have been identified. They all belong to Jalandhar, Punjab,” a police official said.

The families of the pilgrims have been informed, police said.

The pilgrims, part of the fourth batch of pilgrims that left Jammu this morning, were on their way to Pahalgam in south Kashmir.

The annual Amarnath Yatra began July 1, with thousands trekking to the hill shrine of Lord Shiva in the Kashmir Valley.