The death toll from landslide on the pilgrimage route to the Mata Vaishno Devi Cave shrine in Jammu and Kashmir’s Reasi district has climbed to 41, officials confirmed on Wednesday.
The disaster, triggered by a cloudburst amid relentless monsoon rainfall, struck near Indraprastha Bhojanalaya in the Ardhkuwari area on Tuesday, burying pilgrims under debris and injuring at least 23 others. The majority of the victims were from Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
On late Monday evening, 20 pilgrims killed in the landslide were identified, while authorities were yet to ascertain the identity of others. “The mortal remains of 25 victims of the tragic Adhkuwari landslide reached GMC Jammu, out of the total 34 who lost their lives,” BJP MLA from Jammu (West) Arvind Gupta said in a social media post.
He, along with BJP Member of Parliament Jugal Kishore, was present at the Government Medical College (GMC), Jammu, to pay homage to the pilgrims. The dead included 13 men, 16 women and minors. The landslide has been described as one of the deadliest incidents along the route in recent memory.
The Vaishno Devi Yatra remained suspended on Wednesday, with no timeline for resumption, as authorities assess the safety of the damaged path.