Jammu, July 3:  A total of six Amarnath pilgrims have lost their lives owing to health issues while they were en route to the holy cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir Himalayas.  The six deceased include two from Andhra Pradesh and one from Uttarakhand.

The sixth batch of 3,489 Amarnath pilgrims left Jammu for the 3,888-metre-high cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas on Tuesday. The pilgrims, including 774 women and 237 sadhus, left for the cave shrine in 114 vehicles from the Bhagwati Nagar base camp.

According to reports, Thota Radhnam, a 75-year-old woman from Fiwalayam in Andhra Pradesh lost his life due to a suspected cardiac arrest in a community kitchen at Baltal base camp this morning, a police official said.

Another pilgrim who lost his life, has been identified as Radha Krishna Sastry (65) who hails from Anantpora in Andhra Pradesh. Officials informed that even Sastry died due to cardiac arrest at Sangam near the holy cave.

According to a PTI report, the bodies of the deceased pilgrims have been kept at the Baltal base camp hospital for further legal proceedings.

Another pilgrim, identified as Pushkar Joshi, a resident of Uttarakhand was injured due to a shooting stone between Brarimarg and Railpathri on Monday. He succumbed at a hospital in Srinagar early on Tuesday. With the recent deaths, the death toll in this year's Yatra has gone up to six including three pilgrims, one BSF officer, one palanquin carrier and one Yatra volunteer.

Despite incessant rains and a threat of flash floods in the Valley, the annual Amarnath yatra to the shrine commenced as per scheduled on June 28 and would end on August 26, 2018. This year, the two-month annual yatra will be longer by 20 days against 40 days in 2017.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 03, 2018 06:05 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).