Vaishno Devi yatra continuing smoothly, 27,000 pilgrims offered prayers on Saturday: Spokesperson

The Mata Vaishno Devi yatra is going on smoothly despite the early Saturday morning stampede that killed 12 people, an official spokesperson said.

The Mata Vaishno Devi yatra is going on smoothly despite the early Saturday morning stampede that killed 12 people and left several others injured, an official spokesperson said, adding that about 27,000 pilgrims offered prayers at the cave shrine during the day.

After the stampede, the rescue operation was launched promptly by a joint team of the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, the district administration, police and the CRPF, the government spokesman said in a statement, adding "the situation was brought under control within a span of five minutes".