11 killed after fresh landslides in J&K, toll reaches 117 in 17 days

Atleast 11 people, including seven members of a family, were killed and one remained missing on Saturday morning after a cloudburstand landslide hit Ramban district, and heavy rains triggered a landslide in Reasi districts of Jammu & Kashmir, officials aware of the matter said.

- Ravi Krishnan Khajuria

India Meteorological Department (Jammu & Kashmir), director, Dr Mukhtar Ahmed, confirmed the cloudburst in Ramban.

The Union Territory has been reeling under a series of flash floods and landslides triggered by heavy rains since August 14 that has claimed 117 lives, while 32 people are missing. The pilgrimage to the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine atop Trikuta hills in Reasi district remained suspended for the fifth day on Saturday, since a landslide struck about halfway along the winding 12-km trek route from Katra to the shrine on Tuesday, killing 34 pilgrims.

Around 12.30am on Saturday, a cloudburst hit Drubla Natna area in Rajgarh, Ramban, police said. “Two houses and a school building were hit. We retrieved four bodies from the debris on Saturday morning, while a woman, Vidya Devi, remains missing...” he said.

DC Mohd Alyas Khan said, “Her (Vidya Devi's) chances of survival look grim..We have deployed our teams to trace her.”