Story highlights The pilgrims were headed to the Himalayan cave shrine of Amarnath

Last week, 8 Hindu pilgrims were killed in crossfire on the same highway

Srinagar, India (CNN) At least 16 Hindu pilgrims were killed Sunday when their bus veered off a national highway and plunged into a gorge in Indian-administered Kashmir, a local official said.

Another 29 people were injured when the bus crashed off the mountainous Jammu-Srinagar National Highway, the Indian Home Ministry said.

Indian emergency workers and locals carry away the injured and dead from the bus crash in mountainous Kashmir.

It was not immediately clear what caused the bus to fall into a gorge near Banihal, a town about 80 kilometers (50 miles) southeast of Srinagar.

"A rescue operation was launched immediately, and the seriously injured pilgrims are being airlifted to hospital in Jammu," said Mandeep Bhandari, commissioner of the division of Jammu.

The pilgrims were headed to the sacred Amarnath cave shrine . Many Hindu pilgrims make the journey to the shrine in July and August.

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