Dehradun

At least 38 pilgrims have lost their lives due to health-related complications during the first 26 days of the ongoing Char Dham Yatra in Uttarakhand, officials said on Thursday.

According to the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC), the fatalities were linked to medical conditions such as altitude-related illness and cardiac arrest.

The annual pilgrimage began on April 19 with the opening of the shrines of Gangotri Temple and Yamunotri Temple. The portals of Kedarnath Temple and Badrinath Temple were opened for devotees on April 22 and April 23, respectively.

Among the four shrines, Kedarnath recorded the highest number of deaths at 21. Badrinath reported seven fatalities, while Gangotri and Yamunotri recorded five deaths each.

Pilgrim turnout has remained high, with more than 11.81 lakh devotees visiting the shrines till Wednesday evening. Kedarnath saw the highest footfall at 4.91 lakh pilgrims, followed by Badrinath with over 3.02 lakh visitors. Yamunotri and Gangotri received 1.94 lakh and 1.92 lakh devotees, respectively.

Registrations for the Char Dham and Hemkund Sahib pilgrimage have crossed 33.96 lakh. Kedarnath registered the highest number of bookings at 11.68 lakh, followed by Badrinath at 10.19 lakh. Gangotri and Yamunotri recorded 5.90 lakh and 5.69 lakh registrations, while Hemkund Sahib saw around 48,000 registrations.

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Officials said the state recorded 89,727 registrations for May 14 and 91,267 for May 15.