8 killed in cloudbursts in Chenab valley

Vast areas along the Batote-Kishtwar National Highway were inundated due to flash floods.

July 20, 2017 09:56 am | Updated August 08, 2017 03:15 pm IST - Srinagar

Sudden deluge: A flash flood washed away houses at Thatri village in Doda district on Thursday.

Sudden deluge: A flash flood washed away houses at Thatri village in Doda district on Thursday.

Eight people were killed and 11 others injured as multiple cloudbursts and landslides hit the Chenab Valley in the Jammu region in the past 24 hours.

A major cloudburst wreaked havoc in Doda’s Thathri area. “Six locals were buried under the rubble and slush triggered by a cloudburst that hit in the intervening night of July 19-20,” an official in Doda told The Hindu over phone.

Five of the victims were women. “All victims were asleep when the tragedy hit the area,” said the officials.

Eleven civilians were injured in the incident. “We rescued over 12 people in the night-long operation,” said the official.

The flash flood inundated the Batote-Kishtwar highway, too. Six houses, two shops and one private school building were also damaged, according to officials.

A separate cloudburst occurred on Thursday morning and flooded parts of the Gugara, Johra and Khara areas with water. Large swathes of agricultural land were also affected.

In the nearby district of Kishtwar, another cloudburst triggered flash floods in the Chichi area and killed a woman and her grandson.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.