The driver of the bus carrying the pilgrims who were shot and killed has emerged a hero after media reports say he was singularly responsible for limiting the fatalities.

Seven Amarnath pilgrims were killed and 19 others were injured in a terrorist attack in south Kashmir's Anantnag district last night.

The bus, bearing a Gujarat registration number, was on its way from Baltal to Jammu when the attack took place around 8:20 pm. However, the bus was not part of the Amarnath yatra convoy and was plying after the 7 pm deadline imposed by the state government.

One of the injured women told NDTV that the driver, who has been identified as Saleem Mirza, kept going even after the bus came under attack and drove them to safety.

Saleem's cousin, Javed told ANI that he received a call around 9:30 pm from Saleem informing him about the firing on the vehicle. "He couldn't save seven lives, but managed to move 50 people to a safe place. We are proud of him," Javed said.

Security has been beefed up along all routes leading to the Pahalgam and Baltal base camps in Anantnag and Ganderbal districts respectively. Additional police and paramilitary personnel have been deployed en route to the holy cave shrine to prevent repeat of any such incident, a police official said. He said investigations have been launched into the attack and few people have been detained for questioning.