India, Aug. 27 -- The death toll in the landslide on the Mata Vaishno Devi pilgrimage route has gone up to 34, a day after disaster struck Ardhkunwari near the hilltop shrine in Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi district amid heavy rain. At least 18 people were injured.

An eyewitness described the terrifying moment, explaining he heard a loud noise, and everything happened within moments.

"It was like a loud thunderclap or a bomb blast from above. The shed collapsed at once. First, the upper shed fell, then the second one, with a gap of about three or four seconds," Ramesh Singh, a palkiwalla (palanquin carrier), said.

The pilgrimage to the shrine was suspended when the mountainside gave way as stones, boulders and rocks came hurtling down aro...