Torrential rains in Indian-administered Kashmir triggered major landslides and flash floods that swept away homes, damaged infrastructure, and caused widespread devastation. At least 40 people died and scores were injured, with many victims among pilgrims travelling to the Vaishno Devi shrine near Katra. Jammu recorded its heaviest-ever 24-hour rainfall of 380mm, surpassing the 1988 record and overwhelming local capacity. Telecommunication networks and powerlines were knocked down, leaving many without contact and increasing panic. Families lost houses, possessions, and livelihoods, while rescue and recovery operations faced challenges amid ongoing damage and missing people.
Forty-year-old Ruksana wails as she looks at her home, a desolate one-storey structure stripped of windows and doors next to the raging Tawi river in Jammu's rundown neighbourhood of Gujar Nagar. A coarse coating of mud drips down the outer walls of the house. My husband is handicapped, and I have built this home by working at people's homes, she wails. I could only rescue my two children and husband. Everything else, their clothes, their books, food has been lost.
At least 40 people have died and scores have been injured as torrential rains in Indian-administered Kashmir triggered major landslides this week, with flash floods sweeping away homes and knocking down telecommunication networks and powerlines. The majority of those killed were pilgrims travelling to the Vaishno Devi temple in Jammu's Katra. The shrine, one of the most popular Hindu pilgrimage spots, is located about 60km from Jammu city.
There was chaos. Death had never seemed [so] close. Some people are still missing, said Rakesh Kumar, 42, who had come to Katra from Madhya Pradesh, a central Indian state. The internet and phones were dead, which created a lot of panic. Jammu recorded its heaviest-ever 24-hour rainfall on Tuesday 380mm, compared with the previous record of 270.4mm in 1988 triggering widespread devastation across the region.
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