Twelve pilgrims have died and 14 were injured in a stampede at the Mata Vaishno Devi temple in Jammu & Kashmir.

The stampede occurred after a massive crowd of devotees, who had come to pay their obeisance to mark the beginning of the New Year, rushed into the Vaishno Devi Bhawan, officials said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is "personally monitoring and keeping track" of the tragic situation, a minister in his office said.

Mukesh Singh, the Additional Director General of Police or ADGP, confirmed that 12 pilgrims have died and at least 14 are injured in the stampede. "All the injured have been taken to a hospital," he said.

The incident occurred outside the sanctum sanctorum of the shrine on Trikuta hills.

The police said that rescue operations started immediately and all the injured have been taken to hospitals. The condition of some is stated to be "serious".

Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled the loss of lives on Twitter, adding that he had spoken to Jammu and Kashmir LG Manoj Sinha, Ministers Jitendra Singh and Nityanandra Rai and taken stock of the situation. “Extremely saddened by the loss of lives due to a stampede at Mata Vaishno Devi Bhawan. Condolences to the bereaved families. May the injured recover soon. Spoke to JK LG Shri @manojsinha_ Ji, Ministers Shri @DrJitendraSingh Ji, @nityanandraibjp Ji and took stock of the situation,” he said.

The Prime Minister's Office announced an amount of Rs 2 lakh each from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund to the families of those who lost their lives due to the stampede. The injured would be given Rs 50,000, the PM's Office added.