84 Amarnath yatris from AP safe, two women missing

VIJAYAWADA: Two women among 86 pilgrims from AP who had gone on Amarnath Yatra are missing. Efforts are on to trace the missing women. All the remaining pilgrims from the state are safe.

The missing women have been identified as G. Sudha and K. Parvathi of Rajamahendravaram in East Godavari district. The two are part of a 20-member team from the town that had gone on the Amarnath Yatra. Husbands of the two women and others are safe.

A team of 17 pilgrims from Tadepalligudem, 38 from Guntur, six from Tirupati, one from Vizianagaram and others from several parts of the state are safe in Srinagar and at the Jammu base camp.

A flash flood on Friday afternoon following a cloudburst near the cave shrine killed 16 pilgrims. Several others are missing. Following the tragedy and continuing bad weather, authorities have suspended the yatra from Jammu.

Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has directed officials to forthwith initiate all steps to facilitate the safety of pilgrims from AP. Two helpline numbers have been set up – 1902 at Secretariat in Amaravati and 011-23384016 at Andhra Pradesh Bhawan in New Delhi.

AP Bhawan additional resident commissioner Himanshu Kaushik has been sent to Srinagar to oversee the safe passage of stranded AP pilgrims to their home state. He will be making the required arrangements with help from Jammu and Kashmir authorities.

No casualties from AP have been reported so far. Based on the number of calls received at control rooms in Amaravati and Delhi, a total of 19 pilgrims from the state had gone missing. Of them, 17 have been traced and are returning to their home state.

CCLA secretary Dr Ahmad Babu said, “Search is on to locate the whereabouts of the two missing Rajamahendravaram women. Their family members are safe.”