Amarnath: Cloudburst near Baltal base camp claims 3 lives, 7 yatris missing
Three persons were killed including two children after a cloudburst struck near the base camp of Amaranth.
Multiple cloudbursts and landslides in Baltal, around 90 km northeast of Srinagar, left three yatris, including two children, dead. According to officials, cloudbursts coupled with heavy rainfall on Friday night led to a huge down flow of debris, which covered the entire area adjoining the main gate of the Baltal base camp. Officials said at least seven people are missing.
"It just happened all of sudden. We didn't know what to do. We rushed towards base camp to save ourselves," said Nazir Ahmad of Kulgam, who had a tea stall outside the base camp. Officials of Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB), which conducts Amarnath yatra, said soon after the news of the disaster, senior officers along with personnel of J&K police, NDRF, SDRF, Army and Central Armed Police Forces immediately swung into action to carry out search and rescue operations evacuating thousands of pilgrims.
Chief Executive Officer of SASB PK Tripathi said: "Around 50 tents, shops and the parking area outside the main gate of the Baltal Base Camp have been affected badly." He said bodies of Deepak Singh of Sunder Nagr in Delhi, and two kids, Pooja (13), daughter of Shri Prakash of Rajastan and Vikram (12) of Rajasthan have been recovered.