Bantwal : A team of 27 members from Bantwal which had left for Amarnath Yatra, is safe and has reached Amarnath. The news has brought much relief to the family and friends of these 27 people in the backdop of the cloudburst on Friday that has claimed many lives and many are missing.

Bantwal BUDA Chief Devadas Shetty is in touch with the team from Bantwal as per the directions of local MLA Rajesh Naik.

Suresh Kotian, a member of the team, said that they were 28 km away from the yatra spot. He lauded the efforts of the army team engaged in the search and rescue operations. The team was hopeful that they would reach the cave shrine for Darshan tomorrow, he said.

The death toll in the flash flood triggered by a cloudburst near the Amarnath cave shrine rose to 16 on Saturday while 15,000 stranded pilgrims were shifted to the lower base camp of Panjtarni, said army officials.

Further, the report said that searches for the missing people continued, without break, after the flash flood and landslides rummaged through tents and community kitchens on Friday afternoon. Senior officials said 25 injured people have been shifted to hospitals while many people are believed to be still trapped under the debris.