At least six pilgrims, who were on their way to Amarnath cave shrine, reportedly died on Saturday due to breathing problem during the ongoing yatra, officials said.
According to officials, all the six pilgrims suffered cardiac arrest, taking the death toll to 78.
Although the death toll is increasing, the numbers of pilgrims, who already visited the shrine and had "darshan" of the ice-shivlingam which is situated at an altitude of 3,888 meter high, have crossed 4.5 lakhs on Saturday, officials said.
Out of the six pilgrims, a 30-year-old resident of Maharashtra, Ranidhar, and a 62-year-old resident of West Bengal, Amlas Chakravorty, died of cardiac arrest at Baltal base camp. Two Punjab resident 47-year-old Prem Kumar and 22-year-old Gurnam Singh died at Brarimarg and Nagatati-Pahalgam respectively, the officials said. A 50-year-old resident of Maharashtra Ram Baggi and a resident of Chandigarh died at Railpathri and the holy cave, according to Press Trust of India.
Meanwhile, a fresh batch of more than 2,500 pilgrims has left for the Amarnath cave shrine on Saturday morning.
The yatra is schedule to end on August 2 on the auspicious day of 'Raksha Bhandan.'
Amarnath cave shrine is a very popular yatra destination for Hindu devotees. Last year, more than 634,000 devotees had darshan of the lingam, which is the highest record number for the holy place.
Devotees visit the site during the 45-day season around the festival of Shravani Mela which takes place in July-August.
