After seven members of a family, including their five minor children, were buried alive under the debris of their village home in the Bhadder village of Mahore in the Reasi district on Saturday, the death toll/list of missing persons in the recent incidents of cloudburst and massive landslides has risen to 156 since August 14 across the Jammu division.
In a separate incident, four villagers perished in the Rajgarh area of Ramban following flash floods triggered by a cloudburst in the area in the wee hours of Saturday.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah is scheduled to visit Jammu from August 31 to September 1, during which he will tour flood-affected areas, including Katra, the base camp of the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine and Kishtwar, to assess the damage caused by the recent floods.
Meanwhile, the pilgrimage to the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine atop Trikuta hills in Reasi district remained suspended for the fifth day on Saturday. The Jammu-Srinagar National Highway (NH-44) was partially reopened to clear the stranded vehicles. However, normal traffic is yet to resume on the all-weather road linking Kashmir with the rest of the country.
According to official sources, more than 2,000 vehicles were stranded on either end of the highway after the August 26 rainfall, which flooded low-lying areas and left a trail of death and destruction in the Jammu region.
The Union Territory, reeling under the cycle of death and destruction in the aftermath of massive landslides and flash floods in the region.
Early on Saturday, a landslide flattened a house in the remote Bhadder village in Reasi district, killing seven members of a family. The deceased have been identified as Nazir Ahmad (38), his wife Wazira Begum (35) and their sons Bilal Ahmed (13), Mohd Mustafa (11), Mohd Adil (8), Mohd Mubarak (6) and Mohd Wasim (5).
Nazir and his family were asleep when their house on a hill slope came under the debris brought down by the landslide, burying them alive, the officials said, adding the locals frantically searched the debris and were later joined by police, but only managed to pull out the bodies.
In Ramban district, four people, including two brothers, died after a cloudburst struck a remote village, damaging two houses and a school. The cloudburst triggered flash floods in the mountainous Rajgarh, located about 25 kilometres from the district headquarters, around 11.30 pm on Friday.
“Bodies of four people were recovered from underneath the debris after a hectic search by rescuers, comprising local volunteers, police and SDRF,” Deputy Commissioner of Ramban, Mohammad Alyas Khan, said.
The deceased have been identified as Ashwani Sharma (24), his brother Dwarka Nath (55), niece Virta Devi (26) and their guest Om Raj (38), a resident of Banshara in Rajgarh. The rescuers are searching for Sharma’s sister-in-law, Bidya Devi (55). Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah have expressed grief over the incidents and assured all possible assistance to the affected families.
Taking note of the incessant heavy rains, the chief minister appealed to people to remain alert, avoid vulnerable areas, and strictly adhere to safety advisories.