JAMMU — At least 11 people were killed and seven others went missing as torrential rains triggered landslides and flash floods in the twin border districts of Poonch and Rajouri in Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday, prompting a multi-agency rescue operation.
The worst devastation was reported from Surankote tehsil in Poonch district, where most of the fatalities occurred, while rescue teams raced against time to trace the missing amid continuing rain and damaged roads, the officials said.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who was in Delhi for the proposed statehood protest, decided to cut short his stay in the national capital and return to Jammu in the afternoon in view of the worsening situation across parts of the division following heavy rains.
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha reviewed the situation in the rain and flash flood-hit districts and directed officials to ensure immediate relief and assistance to the affected families.
A landslide triggered by torrential rains struck a house in Lower Murrah village of Surankote early Sunday, burying all eight occupants under the debris, the officials said.
While bodies of five persons, including a two-year-old boy Sofian Yasar were retrieved from the debris, a search operation was continuing to trace the remaining missing persons, the officials said.
Four members of another family were reported missing after their house was washed away by flash floods at Sangla village, they said, adding the missing persons include Abdul Hameed, his wife Sharifa Begum, daughter Areeba and sister Manira Begum.
A 28-year-old woman, Nazia Kousar, was killed when her house collapsed in Noonabandi village. Her Husband, Mohd Hafiz, and three children, aged between two and six years, were rescued with injuries and shifted to a hospital, officials said.
Shahzaib Ahmad (22) lost his life when his house collapsed at Sanglani-Surankote, while a minor girl identified as Iram drowned in a stream at Marhote. An unidentified body of a woman was also fished out from a stream near Dhundak Lathoong bridge, officials said.
One person was killed and another critically injured following collapse of nearly half-a-dozen houses in Haveli tehsil of Poonch district, the officials said.
They said body of a woman was also fished out from a river in Rajouri town which was hit by flash floods following incessant overnight rainfall, forcing hundreds of residents to move to safer locations as floodwaters inundated low-lying areas.
Dozens of vehicles were swept away or submerged after overflowing rivers breached their banks, causing widespread disruption, the officials said.
They said rescue and relief teams, assisted by the local administration, were engaged in evacuating affected families and assessing the damage, while local Congress MLA Iftkhar Ahmad said there was heavy damage to public and private property in the flash floods.
As a weather advisory warned of moderate to heavy rainfall across Jammu and Kashmir till July 23, the border district of Rajouri and Poonch experienced relentless rain from Saturday evening, leading to overflowing rivers and streams after a night of heavy downpour.
Rajouri MLA Ahmed, who was scheduled to participate in his party’s protest in support of the restoration of statehood outside Lok Bhavan in Jammu on Sunday, returned to his hometown to assess the flood situation.
“I have abandoned my party programme to stand with my people, as the flash floods have caused extensive damage to public and private property,” Ahmad said.
In a post on X, the chief minister said he is returning from Delhi and would personally monitor the situation on the ground.
“In light of the weather warning put out by the meteorological department and the seriousness of the situation unfolding across parts of Jammu division, I will leave Delhi to fly to Jammu this afternoon to personally monitor the situation on the ground,” the chief minister said.
“Since first light this morning I’ve been closely monitoring the situation arising from the extremely heavy rain in parts of Jammu, especially Rajouri town & surrounding areas. I’ve been in touch with the local MLAs of the region. While the situation continues to unfold the first priority of the administration is to safeguard precious lives. The government will do everything possible to aid & assist affected people who have suffered property loss/damage due to the rains & flash floods,” he said.
Abdullah also stated that the National Conference’s planned statehood protest in Delhi on July 20 will continue as scheduled under the leadership of National Conference president Farooq Abdullah. — (PTI)