One woman pilgrim was killed on the spot and nine others injured in a freak incident caused by falling stones in the vicinity of the cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir late Monday evening.

Police said the tragedy was caused by loosening of the stones by recent rains and high velocity winds near the holy cave.

"One woman pilgrim from Assam, died on the spot while nine other yatris were wounded. The injured who were provided first aid near the cCave were evacuated later to the hospital. Condition of three of the injured who received serious head injuries is critical," a senior police officer said.

This is the first of such incident in this year's yatra, which had a delayed start on Monday.

The cave shrine is visited by thousands of pilgrims from different states daily by the twin routes of north Kashmir Baltel and south Kashmir Pahalgam.

Around 300,000 pilgrims had darshan at the cave shrine last year during the official two month long yatra.

The early melting of the Shiv Lingam inside the cave shrine this year has disappointed many pilgrims. Authorities say that the huge presence of devotees inside the cave ahead of the official commencement of the yatra is the reason for the early meltdown.