At least nine people have lost their lives in a landslide at Mata Vaishno Devi shrine route in Jammu and Kashmir’s Reasi district on Tuesday, news agency PTI reported.

The landslide struck at a point about halfway along the winding 12-km trek from Katra town to the hilltop shrine. The incident near the Inderprastha Bhojnalaya at Ardhkuwari occurred almost two hours after the yatra was suspended at 1.30 p.m. amid heavy rain across the Jammu region.

Nine people were killed when the mountainside literally gave way around 3 p.m. The toll could go up, according to PTI.

Twenty-one of the pilgrims are injured and currently undergoing treatment at a medical facility in Katra. The rescue operations are underway as several people were feared trapped, the report quoted officials as saying, as rescuers scrambled to pull out those buried under the debris.

Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board asked intending pilgrims to replan their pilgrimage to the revered shrine atop the Trikuta hill once the weather improves.

“A landslide incident has occurred near Inderprastha Bhojnalaya at Adhkwari, some injuries are feared. Rescue operations are underway along with required manpower and machinery,” the shrine’s board said in a post on X.