2-women-killed-girl-injured-in-vaishno-devi-landslide

Two women lost their lives and a young girl was seriously injured in a landslide on a recently built track leading to the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine in the Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir on Monday, officials said.

 

Eyewitnesses said the landslide occurred on the route near Panchi, approximately three kilometres before the shrine at  around 2.35 pm.

 

 A sizeable portion of the newly built overhead structure was also damaged, officials said.

 

The pilgrims were heading for Vaishno Devi when they were trapped under the iron structure which collapsed under the weight of the debris from the landslide, they added. 

 

Sharing preliminary information about the incident, Deputy Commissioner of Reasi district, Vishesh Paul Mahajan, said “Two women have died while one girl has been seriously injured in the accident.”

 

Senior police officials and officers from civil administration have rushed to the spot, and further details are awaited, Mahajan said. 

 

Officials also said rescue operations were initiated shortly after the landslide. 

 

The administration has suspended the movement of pilgrims on the route until further orders.

 

In 2022, on New Year’s Eve, a stampede at the shrine left 12 people dead and another 16 injured.