July 9, 2022 19:23
At least 16 people have died following a sudden rainstorm caused flooding as a crowd of Hindus performed a pilgrimage at the Amarnath shrine in Kashmir, a government official said on Saturday.
More than twenty people are missing and rescue operations are still underway.
A spokesman for the Indian Defense Ministry in Srinagar said that “military and civilian helicopters are conducting continuous flights to evacuate the wounded and dead.”
The authorities suspended the pilgrimage ceremonies at the shrine until further notice.
During the annual visiting season, tens of thousands of Hindus cross glaciers and submerged passages to reach the cave, which contains icy deposits considered a physical embodiment of the god Shiva.
The cave is covered in snow for most of the year, but authorities have allowed people to visit it for 45 days during the summer as temperatures rise in the passages.
This year’s visiting season comes following a two-year hiatus due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. Authorities expect 800,000 Hindus to arrive at the shrine, following more than 60,000 have arrived so far in the first ten days.
Source: Archyde.com
