Katra, Oct. 14 -- Three pilgrims returning from the holy shrine of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi were killed and two others injured when their auto-rickshaw collided head-on with a bus on the Katra-Udhampur road on Tuesday, police said.

The collision involved an auto-rickshaw bearing registration no. JK14C-9518 carrying the pilgrims and a bus bearing registration number JK02AQ 5353. The impact was severe, resulting in the immediate death of three passengers, while two others sustained critical injuries. Those killed in the accident were identified as auto driver Jeet Lal and pilgrims Vachitar Kumar Sahu, and Joginder Matari (66), residents of Odisha.

Two other injured devotees - Kavita Sahu and Sneh Lata Matari from Odisha -were referred to Ja...