Flash Floods and Landslides Kill 28 in Jammu & Kashmir

JAMMU: Flash floods and landslides fuelled by torrential rain drove the death toll across J&K’s Jammu division to 28 after a house collapse killed seven people in Poonch and three died in Doda on Monday while rescuers dug four bodies from rubble left by raging streams and collapsing hillsides that ripped through Pir Panjal region on Sunday. CM Omar Abdullah announced an ex gratia of Rs 6 lakh for the next of kin of each victim. Poonch accounted for 23 deaths over two days, including several children, while neighbouring Rajouri reported two fatalities. Surankote in Poonch bore the brunt with 15 deaths after walls of water and mud barrelled down mountain slopes Sunday. Four bodies were found Monday. Fresh casualties were reported from Mandi in Poonch, where heavy rain brought down a “dhok”, a mountain shelter built by nomadic herdsmen. The dead included Tanveer Ahmed, Zahida Begum, Shamim Akhter, Shabnam Bano, M Irfan, 17, Manan Rafiq, 6, and 4-year-old Aleesa. In Doda, falling boulders smashed into a bus on Jammu-Kishtwar national highway near Raggi Nallah around 9.30am during heavy rain. Seven injured passengers were taken to hospital, where Manish Kumar died, while rescuers later found the body of an unidentified man inside the mangled bus. In Kashtigarh, a woman died after a shooting stone crashed through her house. Civil administration, police, Army, SDRF teams and local volunteers continued clawing through mud and stones to pull out victims and move families from vulnerable areas. Soldiers built a makeshift bridge from a tree trunk and belaying rope across a swollen stream in flood-ravaged Dhara Sangla village of Surankote, helping rescuers and grieving families carry a young girl’s body home while restoring a vital link cut by flash floods. Amarnath Yatra and pilgrimages to Vaishno Devi shrine in Katra and Shiv Khori in Reasi remained suspended for a second day. IMD issued a red alert warning of extremely heavy rain over the next three days. Relentless rain also crippled transport. A stretch of Jammu-Srinagar NH-44 near Chenani in Udhampur caved in, damaging at least eight roadside shops.