At least 36 Amarnath pilgrims sustained minor injuries when five buses in their convoy collided in Jammu and Kashmir’s Ramban district on Saturday morning, officials said.
The buses were traveling from Jammu’s Bhagwati Nagar towards the Pahalgam base camp in south Kashmir when the accident occurred near Chanderkoot along the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway around 8 am.
Officials attributed the collision to brake failure in one of the buses, which lost control and slammed into stationary vehicles at the Chanderkot Langer site, damaging four other buses in the convoy.
Ramban Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Alyas Khan confirmed the incident, stating, “The last vehicle of the Pahalgam convoy lost control and hit stranded vehicles, causing minor injuries to 36 yatris.”
Government officials at the site quickly moved the injured to the Ramban district hospital, where senior police officers monitored their treatment and directed medical staff to ensure the best care. Ramban Medical Superintendent Sudarshan Singh Katoch said the pilgrims were discharged after receiving first aid.
The injured yatris were later shifted to replacement vehicles, and the convoy resumed its journey towards the Amarnath shrine, officials added.
Earlier that morning, the fourth batch of 6,979 pilgrims—including 5,196 men, 1,427 women, 24 children, 331 sadhus and sadhvis, and one transgender person—had departed from Bhagwati Nagar in two convoys between 3:30 am and 4:05 am. While 4,226 pilgrims were bound for the 48-kilometer Pahalgam route, 2,753 were taking the shorter, steeper 14-kilometer Baltal route.
