Recently, a post is doing rounds on social media platforms claiming that 16 Amarnath pilgrims were killed after their bus fell into a nullah in Kashmir.

The image in which some security personnel can be seen was shared on a Facebook page named  “Prince Online Sumbal” with a caption, “#Big Breaking At least 16 Amarnath yatras died. And many more injured as jksrtc pulgs in nalah”.

This post was shared over 1000 times. Surprisingly, many users have written “good news” in the comment section.

The message is being shared widely on Facebook. 

A Twitter user has also shared the same message.

The truth behind the claim 

In our investigation, we found this claim to be false and the image being shared with this post is also old. Moreover, in the wake of coronavirus pandemic in the country, the authorities have announced to cancel Amarnath Yatra scheduled for 2020.

With the help of reverse image search, we found the viral image in the photo gallery of “The Indian Express”. As per “The Indian Express”, 16 pilgrims were feared dead and over 30 injured after a bus carrying Amarnath yatris fell into a gorge in Jammu and Kashmir on July 16, 2017.

The bus accident took place in J&K’s Ramban district. The Statesman used the same image in their article while reporting the incident.

In conclusion, the viral post claiming Amarnath pilgrims haven met with an accident recently in Jammu is completely fake. 

An official spokesman here the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) held an emergency video conference and decided to cancel the yatra which was scheduled to start on July 21 “in the larger public interest”. This is the second year in a row that the pilgrimage would not be carried out.