J&K Landslides and Cloudbursts Leave 11 Dead, Several Missing
At least 11 people have been killed and several others reported missing after fresh landslides and cloudbursts triggered by relentless rainfall battered Jammu and Kashmir, officials said on Saturday. In Reasi district, seven members of a family — including five children aged 4 to 12 — died after their house collapsed in a landslide late Friday. All the bodies were recovered from the debris on Saturday morning.
In Ramban district, four people were killed and four remain missing after a cloudburst in Rajgarh unleashed flash floods that swept away houses and damaged several structures. Rescue teams are still searching for the missing. Union Minister Jitendra Singh confirmed the casualties and said every possible assistance was being provided.
The region has been lashed by a week of heavy rainfall, causing rivers to swell and triggering widespread landslides. The Jammu-Srinagar National Highway, the 270-km all-weather lifeline to the Valley, has remained shut for five straight days, leaving more than 2,000 vehicles stranded. Nine inter-district roads are also closed, cutting off dozens of villages in Jammu, Samba, Kathua and Udhampur.
Earlier this week, a massive landslide near the Vaishno Devi shrine in Katra killed 31 people, forcing suspension of the yatra.
The weather office has issued a yellow alert for thunderstorms and lightning in Poonch, Reasi, Rajouri, Kishtwar and Udhampur, and an orange alert for heavier rainfall in Poonch, Kishtwar, Jammu, Ramban and Udhampur over the weekend.
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