Jammu, 1st January 2022: Twelve pilgrims have died, fourteen injured in a stampede at Mata Vaishno Devi temple on New Year.

A large number of devotees had reached to pay their obeisance to the Vaishno Devi. Meanwhile, a stampede broke out. Due to this many devotees are returning without paying obeisance. The deceased include devotees from Delhi, Haryana, Punjab.

Jammu and Kashmir DGP Dilbag Singh said, “the incident happened at 2:45 am. In the initial reports, we have come to know that there was an argument between some people and a scuffle broke out. After this people started running, due to which this accident happened.”

Block Medical Officer Dr Gopal Dutt said, “Twelve people have died in the stampede at Mata Vaishno Devi temple. Till now the exact figure has not come out. The post-mortem of the dead is to be done. Apart from this, the injured have been shifted to Narayana Hospital for treatment. So far 14 injured have been admitted to the hospital for treatment.”

“One of the dead is a resident of Rajouri in Jammu and Kashmir. Apart from this, 11 other people are from different states of the country. So far 7 people have been identified from the dead. Efforts are on to identify 5 others”, said Jagdev Singh, duty officer of Vaishno Devi temple complex.

The condition of many of the injured people is also critical. At present, 14 injured have been admitted to Mata Vaishno Devi Narayana Superspeciality Hospital for treatment.

The Police Control Room of Reasi said, “rescue and relief work is going on. At present, the situation is under control.”