Bodies of two cloudburst victims recovered, 5 missing

Ramban/Jammu, August 27

Two bodies, including that of a 12-year-old boy, were recovered on Tuesday as rescue operation continued in Ramban district to trace five other missing people following a cloudburst, officials said.

The cloudburst occurred in Panchayats Kumate, Dhraman and Halla in Rajgarh tehsil late Monday afternoon, causing flash floods in Tanger and Dadi streams, they said. Seven people of three different families were reported missing in the flash floods, Tehsildar Rajgarh Major Singh said.

Despite the inclement weather, the rescue team has so far managed to retrieve bodies of two persons — Yasir Ahmad (20) of Gadgram and Khalid Ahmed Parihar (12) of Suli-Kumate, Singh, who is supervising the rescue operation, said.

He said efforts are underway to locate the remaining five missing people — Ahmad’s mother Naseema Begum (42) and sister Shazia Banoo (6), Parihar’s mother Gulshan Begum (42) and sister Seerat Banoo (8), and six-year-old Qazia Banoo of Dungar Dandllah.

The rescue team includes personnel from the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), local police and volunteers.

Singh said that continuous rain has slowed down the rescue operation, as the rivulets are in spate. It took nearly three hours for the rescuers to reach the affected villages on foot, he added.

At least two government schools at Gadgram and Sonsua, and a couple of other structures also suffered damages, while three parked private vehicles were washed away by the flash floods, the officials said.