Jammu & Kashmir Cloudburst and Landslide: At least eleven people, including five children, died in two separate incidents on Saturday as extreme weather hit the region. In Ramban, four villagers were killed after a cloudburst caused flash floods in Rajgarh tehsil. Two houses and a school were swept away. Rescue teams have recovered four bodies and are a search is on for other missing persons. "Bodies of four people were recovered from underneath the debris after a hectic search by rescuers, comprising local volunteers, police and SDRF," Deputy Commissioner of Ramban, Mohammad Alyas Khan, told PTI.
Visuals from Ramban
The deceased were identified as Ashwani Sharma (24), his brother Dwarka Nath (55), their niece Virta Devi (26) and guest Om Raj (38). Rescuers are looking for Sharma’s sister-in-law, Bidya Devi (55).
In Reasi district, a landslide buried a house in Badder village. Seven people died, including a couple and their five children, all under the age of 12. The deceased were identified as Nazir Ahmad, his wife Wazira Begum (35) and their sons Bilal Ahmed (13), Mohammad Mustafa (11), Mohammad Adil (8), Mohammad Mubarak (6) and Mohammad Wasim (5).
Visuals from Reasi
Over the past two weeks, intense rains and landslides have caused widespread destruction in Jammu. Vehicular traffic on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway remained suspended for the fifth day as landslides damaged the road between Udhampur and Banihal.
More than 115 people have died, most of them pilgrims. Among them, 65 pilgrims were killed when a cloudburst hit Chishoti village in Kishtwar during the annual Machail Mata Yatra, and 30 pilgrims died near the Mata Vaishnodevi shrine when a landslide struck the area.
According to the reports, the Jammu and Kashmir government has set up a committee to investigate landslide deaths near the Katra shrine. The committee will examine the cause of the landslide, evaluate rescue and relief operations, and suggest measures to prevent similar incidents in the future.
Union Minister Jitendra Singh, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah expressed grief over the incident and assured support to the victims’ families.
(With inputs from agencies)