Two pilgrims die from cold en route to Himachal's Kinner Kailash

Two pilgrims died from cold en route to Kinner Kailash in Himachal Pradesh's Kinnaur district Wednesday, police said.

The remaining three from their group were rescued, they said.

Hundreds of pilgrims come every year to Kinner Kailash, a mountain at a height of 19,850 feet, to pay obeisance to Lord Shiva.

The deceased have been identified as Piyush Verma (26), a resident of Bara Gaon in Kumarsain teshil of Shimla; and Varun Singh (25), a resident of Haryana's Jhajjar.

According to information, a group of five youths, four from Bara Gaon in Shimla and one from Haryana, had left for the Kinner Kailash pilgrimage.

Two of them died before reaching there due to severe cold whereas three others were rescued by a quick response team of the Kinnaur police.

The group had reportedly left Ganesh Park for Kinner Kailash Wednesday morning.

The rescued youths have been identified as Abhay Rana (23), Anshul Jaswal (21) and Anil Verma (17).

The district administration had fixed 10 days from July 1 for the pilgrimage but some pilgrims were leaving early to pay obeisance at Kinner Kailash without any information, police said advising against undertaking the journey before the fixed schedule.