10 more die in Jammu rain havoc; death toll reaches 22

A day after devastating flash floods and landslides claimed 12 lives and left several others missing across Jammu division, 10 more civilians lost their lives on Monday, taking the death toll in the rain-battered region to 22.

According to official sources, seven people were buried alive when their house was struck by a massive landslide in the Domail Dhok area of Loran in Poonch district. The incident was reported after midnight, following flash floods that triggered massive mudslides.

Three persons were killed and six others injured after falling boulders struck a passenger bus and a house in two separate incidents in the hilly Doda district.

According to Deputy Commissioner Poonch, Ashok Kumar Sharma, seven people have lost their lives in the incident in Loran Dumilan village. He said all seven bodies have been retrieved. Among the seven killed, four were women.

Mohd Rafiq lost his wife, Zaida Begum, and two minor kids along with four other relatives.

In a separate incident, a rock rolled down a hillock near Raggi Nallah along the Jammu-Kishtwar national highway around 9.30 am amid torrential rains, hitting a passenger bus, the officials said.

They said a rescue operation was launched immediately, and seven injured persons were shifted to a nearby hospital, where one of them, identified as Manish Kumar, was declared brought dead.

In addition, the body of an unidentified person was recovered from the damaged vehicle, the officials said, adding efforts are underway to establish the identity of the deceased.

The officials said the highway remained blocked as a couple of private vehicles were also hit by boulders in the area. However, the occupants of the vehicles escaped unhurt.

In another incident, a woman identified as Shiv Devi was killed after being hit by a shooting stone at her house in the Kashtigarh area of the district, the officials said.

Meanwhile, heavy rain on Monday severely hampered rescue operations in both Poonch and Rajouri districts.

The fresh spell of rain began around 3 am in the twin border districts and continued unabated, making rescue and search operations difficult in the affected areas.

Police, Army, SDRF and Civil Defence personnel and local volunteers continued rescue efforts despite the adverse weather, the officials said.

Moderate to heavy rainfall was reported from Jammu and several other districts, though there were no immediate reports of any loss of life or damage to property.

Earlier, a BJP delegation led by the Leader of the Opposition in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, Sunil Sharma, visited the flood-affected areas of Poonch and Rajouri districts to assess the damage caused by flash floods and landslides triggered by torrential rain.