1 Amarnath yatri dies, toll rises to 26

One more pilgrim died due to cardiac arrest enroute to the 3,880 metre-high cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir Himalayas, taking the death toll in the ongoing yatra to 26, officials said today.

Jagdish Malhotra (54), a resident of Punjab, collapsed at Baltal base camp and was declared dead by doctors at the nearby hospital last night, the officials said.

His death raised the toll in the ongoing yatra, which started on July 2, to 26. The dead included 24 pilgrims, a CRPF jawan and a ponywalla.

So far, over 2.65 lakh pilgrims have paid obeisance at the cave shrine which houses the naturally formed ice-shivlingam.