16 pilgrims killed in bus crash in northern India
SRINAGAR, India: At least 16 Hindu pilgrims were killed and many more injured yesterday in a bus crash in northern India, police said, just days after gunmen shot dead eight worshippers making the same holy visit.
The bus plunged into a gorge in Jammu and Kashmir, the state where hundreds of Hindus make the annual pilgrimage to a Himalayan cave revered as the abode of the god Shiva.
“16 people are now confirmed dead, 19 with serious injuries and eight others with minor injuries,” the state’s police force said in a statement yesterday.
Some of the worst injured are being airlifted to hospital, while others were taken to local clinics for treatment, police said.
For the second time in a week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered his condolences to the pilgrims who died making the holy journey.
“Extremely pained by the loss of lives of Amarnath Yatris ( pilgrims) due to a bus accident in J& K. My thoughts are with the families of the deceased,” the prime minister said, referring to the state by its initials.
The tragedy came as another Hindu pilgrim died yesterday from injuries sustained six days ago when unidentified gunmen opened fire on a bus full of worshippers.
“One lady who was injured in the July 10 attack succumbed to her injuries in hospital,” S P Vaid, the state’s director general of police, told AFP.
Her death takes the toll from Monday’s attack to eight, with seven women and one man killed in the late-night assault. Most of the victims were from the western state of Gujarat. It was the worst such attack in the divided Himalayan region since 2000 when gunmen fired on a group of Hindu pilgrims, killing 32 people including two police officers.
Indian leaders and Kashmiri separatists united in their condemnation of this latest attack. No group has yet claimed responsibility.