Amarnath Yatra bus fire: Tragedy averted as alert CRPF men evacuate pilgrims

2 min readJammuJul 16, 2026 09:10 PM IST

The pilgrims from Rajasthan were on their way home after darshan at the Amarnath shrine in the South Kashmir Himalayas, officials said, adding the incident took place at around 4.15 pm. (Special Arrangement)

A bus carrying 47 Amarnath pilgrims caught fire on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway near Karol in Ramban district of Jammu and Kashmir. None of the passengers were injured as they were swiftly evacuated, officials said.

The pilgrims from Rajasthan were on their way home after darshan at the Amarnath shrine in the South Kashmir Himalayas, officials said, adding the incident took place at around 4.15 pm.

The police control room at Ramban said all the passengers were evacuated safely.

However, a member of the fire brigade was injured after falling during the firefighting operation and sustained a fracture in the leg. He was taken to the Government Medical College Hospital in Jammu.

Eyewitnesses said a major tragedy was averted after the CRPF personnel deployed at Karol noticed the fire and immediately started evacuating passengers. Teams of J&K Police, Army, SDRF, Fire and Emergency Services, and local volunteers also joined and launched a rescue and firefighting operation.

Ramban Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Alyas Khan and SSP Arun Gupta rushed to the spot and moved the evacuated passengers to the Amarnath Yatra camp in Ramban. Later, they were sent back to Rajasthan in buses arranged by the administration, which also provided them with basic amenities for their travel.

“As they wanted to go home, we arranged buses for them up to Rajasthan,” said the Ramban DC.

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The luggage and other belongings of the passengers were, however, reduced to ashes.