At least seven members of a family died after a landslide flattened their house in a remote village in Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi district last night. A rescue operation was launched in the area to trace the missing family.
Heavy rains in the Badder village of Mahore triggered the landslide and flash floods in the area. According to officials, the owner of the house, Nazir Ahmad, his wife and five minor sons are missing and are feared dead, news agency PTI reported.
JKNC MLA from Mahore confirmed the incident on Saturday and said that the bodies were recovered by locals today.
"It is very tragic; we have never seen such heavy rain and storm before. Last night, there was a severe downpour and a cloudburst, which sent debris crashing onto their house, killing seven people. Locals have started rescue operations and recovered all seven bodies," Mahore MLA Khurshied Ahmed said.
"An incident of a cloudburst occurred there last night...One Nazeer Ahmed, his wife Wazeera Begum and their five children have died...We had never seen such heavy rainfall...The villagers have recovered the bodies this morning," he added.
A cloudburst also struck a remote village in J&K's Ramban district, claiming the lives of four people, including two brothers. The cloudburst triggered flash floods in 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, told news agency PTI.