11 Killed, Many Houses Damaged After Cloudburst, Landslide In J&K

At least 11 people, including seven members of one family, have been killed in landslides and a cloudburst triggered by heavy rains in Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi and Ramban districts.

In the Mahore area of Reasi district, a landslide struck the home of Nazir Ahmad, 38, in Baddar village overnight. Ahmad, his wife and their five children, aged between five and 13, were all killed when the house collapsed. Rescue teams have recovered the bodies from under mounds of mud and debris.

In a separate incident in Ramban district's Rajgrah village, a cloudburst hit a school, causing flash floods and a landslide that swept away five people and damaged several homes.

The bodies of Om Raj, Vidhiya Devi, Dwarka Nath and one other unnamed victim have been found, while searches continue for a missing person feared dead.

The incidents come amid extreme weather conditions that have ravaged the region in recent weeks, claiming more than 160 lives, many of them pilgrims.

Damage to infrastructure has been severe. Train services between Katra in Jammu and the rest of the country remain suspended for a fifth day, while the vital Srinagar-Jammu National Highway is closed due to extensive destruction at multiple points. Officials say it is unclear when the key road link to Kashmir will reopen.

All government and private schools across the Jammu division will remain closed till August 30. The decision was made in light of several alarming reports from various districts, highlighting severe conditions that were affecting school operations, officials said.

Heads of Institutions have been advised to evaluate the possibility of conducting online classes, specifically for students in Classes 9 to 12, whenever suitable infrastructure and internet connectivity are available.

Earlier on Thursday, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah reviewed the flood situation in the region and expressed concern over the damage caused by two days of continuous rainfall, saying the Union Territory had narrowly escaped a major crisis.

Speaking to ANI, the Chief Minister drew parallels to the devastating floods of 2014, noting that further rainfall could have triggered a disaster of similar scale.

"If it had rained for 1-1.5 more days, we would have faced a lot of difficulties. However, the water has now started receding... But going forward, I will have to hold meetings with the officers myself to understand what we did after 2014. If this is the situation after two days of rain, then God forbid if it had rained for four days, our situation would have been like it was in 2014... We will have to take stock of our shortcomings because we cannot continue to live in fear," CM Abdullah said.