Five pilgrims were injured as a glacier broke off and collapsed on way to the Shrikhand Mahadev shrine in Himachal Pradesh's Kullu district while a 74-year-old man from Maharashtra died due to hypothermia, police said Wednesday.
A number of pilgrims were stranded as the glacier collapsed at Nain Sarovar near Parvati Bagh in Ani sub division on Tuesday at around 4.30 pm, police said.
The 'yatra' to the shrine was temporarily stopped. Considered tougher than the Amarnath pilgrimage, the 10-day Shrikhand Mahadev yatra had begun on July 15.
Rescue operation was started soon after the glacier broke off, they said, adding about 50 other stranded pilgrims were rescued from the glacier point and brought towards Bhim Dwar.
The five injured pilgrims have been identified as Rajiv from Ludhiana, Vivek from Pune, Baba from Maharashtra, Subhash Patel from Pune (Maharashtra) and Divyangni Vyas from Ahmedabad, they added.
Subash Patil from Pune died near Nain Sarovar on Wednesday and prima facie it seems that hypothermia and hypoxia are the cause, a police official said, adding exact cause of his death will be known after autopsy.
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Movement of pilgrims towards the shrine has been temporarily stopped due to collapse of the glacier at Nain Sarovar and landslides at various points due to rains, police added.
Shrikhand Mahadev is revered by Hindus as one of the abodes of Lord Shiva. The Shivalingam is situated at a height of 18,750 feet above sea level in the lap of the Himalayas.
A base camp for registering pilgrims has been set up at Sinhgad.
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