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11 dead in landslide, cloudburst in J&K's Ramban and Reasi; toll hits 117
Among the 11 dead were seven members of a family who were killed following a suspected cloudburst in Reasi district of Jammu & Kashmir
At least 11 people, including seven members of a family, were killed and one remained missing on Saturday morning in two separate incidents of cloudburst and a landslide hit Ramban and Reasi districts of Jammu & Kashmir, officials aware of the matter said.
The Union territory has been reeling under a series of flash floods and landslides triggered by heavy rains since August 14 that has claimed 117 lives, while 32 people are missing. The pilgrimage to the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine atop Trikuta hills in Reasi district remained suspended for the fifth day on Saturday, since a landslide struck about halfway along the winding 12-km trek route from Katra to the shrine on Tuesday, killing 34 pilgrims.
According to police, around 12.30 am on Saturday, a cloudburst hit Drubla Natna area in Rajgarh.
“Two houses and a school building were hit. We retrieved four bodies from the debris on Saturday morning, while a woman, Vidya Devi, remains missing. She might have been buried under the debris or swept away in a river flowing beneath the affected hill,” he said.
He identified the deceased as Om Raj of Banshara Rajgarh, Dwarka Nath, Ashwani Sharma and his sister Veerta Devi, of Gadigran Kumate.
Ramban DC Mohammad Alyas Khan said, “Her (Vidya Devi’s) chances of survival look grim. She might have been buried under the debris or swept away in the river flowing by the hill side. We have deployed our teams to trace her.”
In Reasi district, a suspected cloudburst around 3 AM on Saturday killed a family of seven, including five minors, in Mahore tehsil.
“The cloudburst triggered a landslide that swept away a house in Badder village, burying the entire family of seven members. The bodies remained buried for four hours till they were retrieved later in the morning,” Sub-divisional police officer, Mahore, Waqar Yunus said.
The deceased have been identified as Nazir Ahmed and Wazira Bano, and their five sons--Waseem Ahmed (4), Mohd Mubarak (6), Mohd Adil (8), Mohd Mustafa (10) and Bilal Ahmed (12).
The Met department has forecast one or two spells of light to moderate rain at scattered to fairly widespread places, with the possibility of heavy to very heavy rain over Jammu, Kathua, and Samba districts. Until September 2, moderate to heavy rain/thundershower/intense showers will also occur in a few districts of the Jammu division, including Udhampur, Reasi, Rajouri, Ramban, Doda, and Kishtwar districts.
Chief minister Omar Abdullah has directed officials to ensure round-the-clock monitoring of the situation and carry out timely evacuation of people from risk-prone zones. Union home minister Amit Shah is likely to visit Jammu on Sunday for two days to take stock of the damage.
