Amarnath: The unfortunate cloud burst incident at the Amarnath pilgrimage on Friday resulted in many casualties. In an attempt to expedite the rescue operations, the officials informed that two Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH) were moved for casualty evacuation at the holy Amarnath Cave. At 6.45 am on Saturday the first ALH landed at the site. The Indian Army has deployed men and machinery to assist evacuations, sources in the know said.
An Army official stated that nine surveillance detachments with hand-held thermal imagers, night vision devices, two through wall radars and two search and rescue dog squads were also moved to the cave for the rescue operation.
So far, a total of 15 bodies have been recovered and 63 injured pilgrims have been rescued. Since the track is slushy and slippery at the moment because of the natural disaster, stranded pilgrims are being escorted by the Indian Army Personnel up to Baltal.
Chinar Corps Commander Lt Gen ADS Aujla and Major General Sanjiv Singh, GOC of counter insurgency force visited the Amarnath cave on Saturday to review and assist in the rescue and medical efforts being undertaken by the Indian Army.