An 11-year-old boy from Gujarat’s Kheda district died after a lion attacked him near the 50th step of the Girnar staircase during a pre-dawn pilgrimage trek on Saturday, an official said, adding that the forest department has closed the route until further orders and captured three lions.The child was attacked near the 50th step of the Girnar staircase during a pre-dawn trek; the forest department closed the route and captured three lions.According to Akshay Joshi, deputy conservator of forests (DCF), Girnar wildlife division, the victim was identified as Mayur Chauhan. He had travelled to Girnar with his family on a pilgrimage and begun climbing the hill in the early hours and was attacked near the 50th step. Forest department personnel, trackers and veterinarians launched a search operation and later recovered child’s remains from the forest.Raj Vagdoda, a pilgrim from Palanpur, said he and his brother had started climbing at around 3.45 am and had reached about the 50th or 55th step when they heard people shouting behind them.“We went back around 10 steps and saw some people flashing torches at the lion, teasing it and shouting. The lion appeared to get agitated. This could have led the lion to attack the child later,” Vagdoda told reporters.Joshi said officials first captured a lion suspected to have carried out the attack. During the veterinary examination, the lion regurgitated the human body parts, confirming its involvement. Two other suspected lions were later captured and all three will be shifted to the Sakkarbaug Zoo in Junagadh for further examination, he added.The Girnar hill, which houses several Hindu and Jain temples, is one of Gujarat’s most important pilgrimage centres and attracts thousands of devotees every day. Some pilgrims said sections of the staircase were poorly lit as some lights along the route were not functioning following recent rains.