Amarnath attack: Bodies of seven pilgrims airlifted to New Delhi; worshippers continue Yatra

Srinagar: Amid intensified security, a fresh batch of 3,289 Amarnath pilgrims set off for the Kashmir Valley on Tuesday despite a terror attack on Monday on a bus which left seven worshippers dead.

"A fresh batch of 3,289 yatris left Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas in an escorted convoy of 185 vehicles around 3 am, on Tuesday for the Valley", officials said here.

Chanting 'Bam Bam Bhole', the pilgrims set for the arduous trek from both the traditional Pahalgam and shorter Baltal routes early this morning, an official of the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) said.

"The yatra is progressing smoothly and the terror attack has not dampened the spirits of the pilgrims," the official said.

Meanwhile, bodies of seven Amarnath pilgrims and those who were injured have been airlifted to New Delhi.

In the worst attack on the annual pilgrimage since the year 2001, seven pilgrims -- six women, one man -- were killed and 19 others injured when militants attacked an unescorted bus from Gujarat at Khanabal, Anantnag district, on the Srinagar-Jammu highway last night.

The victims were travelling in the bus which was neither part of the escorted yatra convoy nor registered with the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB).

"The attack occurred at 8.20 pm. All yatra movement which is protected by the security forces on the highway stops at 7 pm after which no movement of pilgrims is officially allowed," said a senior police officer.

The ill-fated pilgrims had performed the yatra and had boarded the bus bearing the registration number GJ09Z 9976 at north Kashmir's Baltal base camp. They were going from Srinagar to Jammu yesterday when they became the target of the terrorist attack.

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The officer said the militants first attacked a police bullet proof bunker at Khanabal and later a police check point.

"After retaliation from the police, the militants started firing indiscriminately. The bus of pilgrims, according to police, was caught in the ambush," a police spokesman said.

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The last known terror attack on the Amarnath Yatra was the killing of 30 persons, mostly pilgrims, in the base camp in Pahalgam in 2000.

The 40-day long yatra started on June 29 and will end on August 7.

So far, nearly 1.40 lakh pilgrims have reached the cave shrine located at 3,888 metres above sea-level.