Jammu cloudburst: Vaishno Devi yatra suspended after landslide, 5 killed as J&K faces rain fury

At least ten people, including six pilgrims killed by a landslide on the Vaishno Devi route, on Tuesday as rivers overflowed, flattening everything in their path as boulders, trees and rocks raced down slopes throughout the Jammu region.

#WATCH | J&K: NDRF, SDRF, J&K Police, CISF, Indian Army, J&K Administration at the flash flood-hit Chasoti village in Kishtwar district, on the seventh day of the search operation.

As per the last update, J&K Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo confirmed that 61 people have lost their… pic.twitter.com/zsFDerWJOM

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The pilgrimage to the hilltop shrine was suspended after boulders and debris swept down the mountainside near Adhkwari, about halfway along the 12-km trek from Katra. Fourteen others were injured, and several people are feared trapped as rescue operations continue.

Several people were feared trapped, officials said as rescuers scrambled to pull out those buried under the debris near the Inderprastha Bhojnalaya at Adhkwari, officials said.

There are two routes up to the shrine – while the yatra had been suspended on the Himkoti trek route since morning, it was going on, on the old route till 1.30 pm when authorities decided to suspend it as a precautionary measure in view of the rain.

Relentless heavy rain caused havoc not just in Jammu, where flash floods, landslides, and the pilgrimage to the Vaishno Devi shrine were halted, but also in the Kashmir Valley. Bridges collapsed and mobile towers and electricity poles snapped like virtual twigs, causing significant infrastructure damage.

Many relatives gathered at the hospital and Vaishno Devi base camp in Katra looking for news of their loved ones. Some of the injured have been shifted to the Narayana Hospital in Katra, about 15 km from Jammu.