One person was killed and at least 19 were injured in a powerful grenade explosion near the main entrance to the Baltal base camp of the Amarnath pilgrimage in north Kashmir.
According to police, terrorists on late Tuesday, tossed a grenade which exploded near the entry point to the camp, 102 km from Srinagar, where several hundred pilgrims spent their night ahead of their departure for the Hindu cave shrine of Amarnath in the Himalayas.
A local vendor, selling essentials near the base camp, was killed after he received severe splinter injuries, said the police.
Earlier, police had put the number of injured at 15. Seven of the injured have been shifted to Srinagar hospitals in critical conditions, police said.
Security forces guarding the camp immediately surrounded the spot and searches were mounted. However, nobody was arrested. The security around the camp was further beefed up.
Most pilgrims going to the Amarnath cave shrine are using the Baltal trek this year.
The blast triggered panic, confusion and chaos in the camp where several hundred pilgrims were staying for the night. The pilgrims begin their upward journey to the shrine early in the morning and return back to the Baltal camp late in the evening.
{{/usCountry}}The blast triggered panic, confusion and chaos in the camp where several hundred pilgrims were staying for the night. The pilgrims begin their upward journey to the shrine early in the morning and return back to the Baltal camp late in the evening.
{{/usCountry}}More than two dozen pilgrims were killed and 40 wounded in an attack on the south Kashmir Pahalgam base camp in 2000.