Thirteen Amarnath pilgrims were injured when their vehicle rammed into a stationary truck on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway in Jammu on Thursday, a police official said.
They were part of a convoy carrying a fresh batch of 3,419 pilgrims, including 680 women and 201 ‘sadhus’, from the Bhagwati Nagar base camp in Jammu to Kashmir, the official said.
The accident occurred around 5.30 am near the Dherma bridge in Mallard area of Udhampur district, about 70 km from Jammu. The driver of the vehicle lost control and hit the truck.
The injured were admitted to a district hospital in Udhampur and the condition of three was stated to be serious. They were being brought to the Government Medical College Hospital in Jamuu.
While 10 of the injured are residents of Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh, the others are from Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh, the official said.
Amid tight security, the fresh batch of pilgrims had left in a fleet of vehicles from Jammu for the twin camps of Baltal in Ganderbal and Pahalgam in Anantnag district to pay obeisance at the 3,880 metre high cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir Himalayas.
Of them, 2,217 pilgrims had opted for the traditional 36-km Pahalgam track, while 1,202 others had undertaken the yatra through the 12-km Baltal route, the official said.
