Devotees left stranded amid train cancellations due to landslide near Vaishno Devi shrine

REASI (Jammu and Kashmir): Several devotees to the Vaishno Devi shrine in Katra, Jammu and Kashmir, were left stranded after train cancellations due to a landslide triggered by heavy rain.

Rajkumari Devi, a devotee from Bihar, said, “I am from Motihari, Bihar. We arrived here day before yesterday and had ‘Darshan’. Now, we want to go home, but we are not able to as the trains are cancelled. A huge mishap has occurred. We are scared and want to go home”.

“I am from Champaran, Bihar… The trains have shut down. We are facing issues with reaching Bihar. We heard that a huge mishap had happened after we had ‘Darshan’ and returned… We are trapped here due to the rain… We had tickets, but the trains have shut down”, another devotee said.

Thirty people have lost their lives after heavy rains triggered a landslide near the Vaishno Devi shrine, said Paramvir Singh, Senior Superintendent of Police, Reasi. The landslide occurred near Inderprastha Bhojnalaya at Adhkwari cave temple, located on the route to the Vaishno Devi shrine.

#WATCH | Katra, Reasi | Shri Mata Vaishno Devi yatra has been stopped following the landslide and heavy rainfall.

30 people lost their lives in the unfortunate landslide accident at Ardhkuwari yesterday

(Visuals from Banganga entrance gate) pic.twitter.com/DkvZIkKswl

— ANI (@ANI) August 27, 2025

The landslide and continuous rains also hit railway services in the region. Eighteen trains were cancelled due to the suspension of traffic on the down line between Pathankot Cantt and Kandrori following soil erosion and flash floods in the Chakki river, officials said.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah stated on Wednesday that Jammu and Kashmir is still struggling with almost nonexistent communication, as the Union Territory reels from the damage caused by heavy rain.

“Still struggling with almost nonexistent communication. There is a trickle of data flowing on Jio mobile, but no fixed line WiFi, no browsing, almost no apps, things like X open frustratingly slowly, WhatsApp struggles with anything more than short text messages. Haven’t felt this disconnected since the terrible days of 2014 & 2019”, the Chief Minister said in a post on X.

On Tuesday, Omar Abdullah spoke on the phone with Union Home Minister Amit Shah to brief him about the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, where heavy and continuous rains have caused significant damage and disruption to normal life.

“Efforts are being made to restore phone/data connectivity as soon as possible. The closure of Jammu airport stopped me & my colleagues from reaching Jammu this evening. I hope to be able to get there on the first flight tomorrow. In the meantime, I’m closely monitoring the situation & in touch with the teams on the ground in the division”, Abdullah had said in a post on X on Tuesday. (ANI)