Two groups attacked bus carrying Amarnath pilgrims three minutes apart: J-K govt
Amarnath Yatra terror attack: Seven pilgrims were killed after their bus was fired at by terrorists on Monday.
The bus carrying Amarnath pilgrims was attacked twice in quick succession by two teams of terrorists, who escaped after spraying bullets from automatic rifles. Seven pilgrims, including six women, were killed and 19 injured in the attack.
The bus was carrying more than 50 pilgrims, mostly from Gujarat and Maharashtra, and was returning to Jammu after visiting the cave shrine of Lord Shiva.
In a two-page report sent to the Union home ministry, the Jammu and Kashmir government said the bus had a flat tyre at a place called Sangam in Anantnag district while going from Srinagar to Jammu, delaying the entourage by about an hour.
After the bus resumed its journey, it came under attack from a group of terrorists at Khanabal around 8:17pm on Monday.
Facing the bullets, the driver of the bus, Salim Sheikh, charged past the area but had to face another group of terrorists after crossing just 75 metres. The second attack took place at 8.20pm.
The state government report said the driver again did not stop the bus despite facing the terrorist attack for the second time in quick succession.
The bus was finally stopped at a police point after a few kilometres and the policemen on duty took the pilgrims to the Anantnag police line where the injured were given first aid before being shifted to a hospital, it said.
According to the report, most of the pilgrims received injuries in legs, nose and shoulders.
Seven Amarnath pilgrims, including six women, were killed and 19 injured in the attack. All the deceased were from Gujarat.