Amarnath Yatra accident: Arun Jaitley condoles death of pilgrims in Ramban

New Delhi: Defence minister Arun Jaitley on Sunday condoled the death of Amarnath pilgrims in a bus accident in the Ramban district of Jammu and Kashmir. [caption id=“attachment_3765853” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Arun Jaitley. AFP[/caption] “Saddened by the loss of lives of #Amarnath Yatris in a bus accident in J&K. Deepest condolences to the bereaved families,” Jaitley tweeted. Sixteen Amarnath pilgrims were killed and around 27 injured, 19 of them critically, when a bus on Sunday skidded off the Jammu-Srinagar national highway and rolled into a deep nullah. The bus skidded off the road, turned turtle, and rolled down into the nullah at the Nachlana belt of Ramban late on Sunday afternoon, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Ramban, Mohan Lal said. The deceased belonged to UP, Bihar, Rajasthan, Assam, Haryana, and Madhya Pradesh, they said. Two women were among the sixteen who died. The J&K State Road Transport Corporation (JKSRTC) bus was part of a convoy carrying 3,603 pilgrims from Jammu to the twin base-camps of Baltal and Pahalgam enroute the cave shrine of Amarnath in South Kashmir Himalayas, police officials said.