SRINAGAR/JAMMU: A pilgrim from Rajasthan was found dead on Wednesday taking the toll in this year’s Amarnath pilgrimage to three, even as over 18 thousand devotees paid obeisance at the cave shrine, taking the total number of pilgrims to have had darshan at the holy cave to 67 thousand in the first five days.
The sixth batch of 6107 Amarnath pilgrims left the Jammu city in the early hours of Wednesday for the twin base camps of Yatra in Valley and reached Kashmir Wednesday evening.
The 62-day annual pilgrimage to the 3,888-metre-high cave shrine in the south Kashmir Himalayas commenced from the twin tracks of Pahalgam in Anantnag district and Baltal in Ganderbal district on July 1.
A 38-year-old pilgrim from Rajasthan, who had gone missing, was found dead on Wednesday, taking the toll in this year’s Amarnath pilgrimage to three, officials said.
Roshan Lal Suthar, a resident of Pansal Dhileara area of Rajasthan, was missing since Tuesday and his body was found near the lower Holy Cave, they said.
The officials said the cause of his death is not known yet.
They, however, said cardiac arrest triggered by lower oxygen concentration at high altitudes is one of the most common causes of fatalities among Amarnath pilgrims and security forces posted there for duty.
Suthar’s demise has taken the death toll so far in this year’s annual yatra to three.
A 67-year-old yatri from Andhra Pradesh died on the Baltal axis of the yatra on Monday, while an Indo Tibetan Border Police officer posted on Amarnath yatra duty died at Sonamarg in Ganderbal district of Jammu and Kashmir before the commencement of the yatra.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, 18,354 devotees paid obeisance at the cave shrine.
“Today, 18354 pilgrims who left toward the shrines both from Baltal Base Camp and Nunwan Base Camp performed the Darshan. They included 12,483 men, 5,146 women, 266 sadhus, two sadhvis, and 457 children,” the officials said.
In the first five days of the yatra, the total number of yatris who performed Darshan since the beginning are 67566, they added.
Meanwhile, the sixth batch of more than 6,000 Amarnath pilgrims left the Jammu city in the early hours of Tuesday for the twin base camps in Kashmir, officials said.
A total of 6,107 pilgrims, including 1,203 women, 193 seers and 31 children, left the Bhagwati Nagar base camp here for the valley in a convoy of 244 vehicles amid tight security arrangements in the early hours of Wednesday, they said.
The officials said 3,929 pilgrims, headed for Pahalgam, left in a convoy of 140 vehicles for the valley, while another convoy of 104 vehicles carrying 2,178 pilgrims was the first to leave for the Baltal base camp at 3.15 am.
With this, a total of 30,269 pilgrims have left the Jammu base camp for the valley since June 30, the day the first batch of pilgrims was flagged off by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha.
The yatra is scheduled to conclude on August 31.
