Woman, two kids go missing after three cloudbursts hit J&K’s Ramban

A woman and her two children are missing after cloudbursts hit Ramban district, damaging schools and vehicles. Rescue operations are ongoing.

A woman and her two minor children were feared swept away, while four school buildings and two vehicles were damaged, following three cloudbursts over Kumait, Dhraman and Halla panchayats of Ramban district on Monday afternoon.

Three members of a family have gone missing from J&K’s Ramban. (File)

Ramban district commissioner Baseer-ul-Haq Choudhary said, “Around 2.15 pm, we received information that a big cloudburst has stuck Kumait village. We immediately rushed our rescue teams. However, it takes nearly three hours from the road to reach the village atop a hill.”

“Reports suggest that a woman identified as Nasima, wife of Bhag Din, her son Yasir and a six-year-old daughter are missing after the cloudburst. Their house was swept away in the cloudburst,” he added.

Rescue operations have been launched, but no bodies have been recovered yet. “They may have fled the house to save themselves. So, we are treating them as missing,” he said.

The DC informed that Kumait bore the maximum brunt of the cloudburst.

“Three school buildings and the house of Nasima have been swept away at Dhraman. At 3.45 pm, our rescue teams comprising policemen, SDRF personnel besides naib tehsildar, Rajgarh station house officer (SHO) were rushed to the affected village. At Dhraman, we are getting reports that two vehicles, a shop and a school building have been damaged in the cloudburst. However, there was no loss of human life or injuries in Dhraman and Halla,” the DC said.

Rajgarh SHO inspector Subhash Singh said, “We are trekking an ascent to reach the village. The exact magnitude of the damage would be known only after we reach Kumait.”