Vaishno Devi landslide toll touches 34

25 more bodies recovered from the site; rescue ops on, say officials

- Ravi Krishnan Khajuria

The death toll in Vaishno Devi landslide rose to 3 on Wednesday, about halfway along the winding 12-km trek from Katra to the shrine, with rescuers scouring the debris to look for survivors, officials said.

“At least 34 dead bodies have been recovered so far. Around 23 injured have been admitted to different hospitals,” the officials said.

Amid heavy rains a massive landslide hit a shed near Adhkuwari enroute the cave shrine on Tuesday around 3pm. While bodies of nine pilgrims were retrieved late Tuesday, 25 more were recovered on Wednesday taking the toll to 32.