A massive landslide struck the old track to the Vaishno Devi shrine in Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir on Monday, leaving at least 10 persons including five pilgrims, injured, officials said.

A booking office and an overhead iron structure collapsed under the weight of the landslide, according to officials. The landslide was caused by heavy rains that hit Katra town, the base camp for pilgrims visiting the shrine on top of the Trikuta hills. As a precaution, the yatra to the shrine has been halted until one o'clock in the afternoon. The incident took place around 8:30 in the morning at Gulshan Ka Langar, which is close to Banganga. This is the starting point of the yatra, where mostly pony riders meet along an old track to register before taking the pilgrims to the cave shrine, 12 kilometers from the town. “Three people sustained serious injuries as a result of the landslide, and seven others sustained minor injuries.

Sachin Kumar Vaishya, the officiating Chief Executive Officer of the Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, told reporters that all of the injured had been rescued and taken to the hospital. Vaishya, who is also the district magistrate for Jammu, rushed to the scene and stated that a full-scale rescue and debris removal operation was in progress. Local volunteers, staff from the shrine board, members of the SDRF, the police, and the CRPF, according to the officials, immediately launched a rescue operation. They claimed that an earth mover was also rushed to expedite the rescue efforts. Uppan, 70, of Chennai, his wife K Radha, 66, and Rajinder Bhalla, 70, of Haryana, were among the critically injured. Leela Raikwar, 56, of Uttar Pradesh, was receiving treatment at the community health center Katra, according to officials. They said Suresh kumar (66) of Maharashtra and two locals Nikhil Thakur (26) and Vicky Sharma were discharged after first aid.

After receiving treatment for his foot injury at the community health center, Thakur spoke with PTI over the phone and stated, "I was inside the booking office when stones started hitting the overhead iron structure and we alerted others and rushed out fearing a landslide." In light of the heavy rain, he stated that there was a small group of devotees and pony riders at the location. According to the meteorological department, Katra town recorded 184.2 mm of rainfall over the past 24 hours ending 8.30 am Monday.

Another landslide had blocked the new track near Himkoti Sunday night and efforts are ongoing to restore it.