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A school student was killed in Poonch and a Vaishno Devi pilgrim died near Katra town as incessant rains triggered landslides in Poonch and Reasi districts of Jammu and Kashmir.
Officials said several pilgrims were injured around 8.30 am when a landslide hit the old (traditional) yatra track to the holy shrine in Banganga area near Katra town. One of them, from Tamil Nadu, died later, officials said.
An iron shed and a booking office under it were damaged due to the landslide, prompting authorities to suspend the yatra on the track from the Banganga side till 1 pm as a precautionary measure.
Officiating Chief Executive Officer of the Shrine Board, Sachin Kunar Vaishya, said three people have suffered serious injuries.
The injured were rushed to the hospital, said Vaishya, who is also the District Magistrate, Jammu.
He said that a rescue and debris clearance operation by local volunteers, shrine board staff, SDRF, police and CRPF personnel was in progress.
The injured were standing under the shed where pilgrims hire ponies for their journey to the shrine in the Trikuta hills.
Pilgrims are allowed to proceed from Katra town to the shrine only through the new Tarakote Marg, police said.
Meanwhile, a student was killed and several others injured when a rock rolled down an adjacent mountain and hit the Government Primary School at Kalsian in the border Poonch district.
Identifying the deceased as Ehsan Ali, 5, son of Mohammad Razak of Kansan Bhainch village, officials said that the injured have been shifted to the government-run district hospital at Poonch for treatment.
Four of the injured students have been identified as Mohammad Safeer, Bilal Farooq, Aftab Ahmed and Toiba Kouserall, aged between 6 and 8.
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