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Farooq Abdullah demands investigation into Amarnath tragedy

Farooq Abdullah, president of the National Conference (NC), asserted on Saturday that the administration should order an investigation to learn how community kitchens and tents were allowed to built in a particularly vulnerable area near the Amarnath cave shrine, which was impacted by flash floods on Friday.

After meeting Yashwant Sinha, the joint opposition candidate for the July 18 presidential elections, Abdullah told journalists that they are confident that the government would appoint an investigative panel to dig deeper.

The President of Jammu & Kashmir National Conference also questioned the appropriateness of erecting tents and a “langar” (community kitchen) in such a risky location.

He remarked that the positioning of the tents and langars is high questionable. Panjtarni could have been a better place for such purpose. This requires further investigation.

He demanded that the victims’ families should get compensation, and precautions should be undertaken to guarantee that similar situations never happen again.

The number of people killed in the flash floods caused by heavy rain close to the Amarnath cave shrine reached 16 on Saturday. Search efforts are still ongoing and many more people may still be buried under the debris.