Tral is a town in mourning. Hundreds of men, women and children have cleared out what remained of the carved wooden shrine after it burned to the ground within an hour.

The shrine was associated with Amir-e-kabir, a scholar-saint who brought Islam to Kashmir more than six centuries ago.

Large crowds took to the streets, protesting at the authorities' failure to respond quickly enough when the fire broke out.

Demonstrators clashed with the police near the shrine. They threw stones, set fire to two police vehicles and beat up a deputy police superintendent.

The police opened fire and four people were shot but not seriously injured.

Some reports claim the fire-fighting operation was delayed because residents pelted fire engines with stones.

But others say the shrine had already been destroyed at this stage.