Floods leave 34 dead in Indian-controlled Kashmir, 150,000 displaced in Pakistan
India’s dam releases and heavy monsoon rains have caused major rivers to swell, leaving many villages inundated across Pakistan’s Punjab province
Intense rains have lashed parts of Pakistan and India and triggered flash floods and landslides in Indian-controlled Kashmir’s Jammu region, leaving at least 34 people dead, officials said on Wednesday.
A section of a mountainside in Jammu collapsed and hit a popular Hindu pilgrimage route following heavy rains in the Katra area late on Tuesday. Devotees were trekking on foot to reach the hilltop temple, which is one of the most visited shrines in northern India, officials said.
The bodies of most of the pilgrimage victims were recovered from under the debris of stones, boulders and rocks, according to disaster management official Mohammed Irshad, who said at least 18 people were injured and transported to hospitals.
Rescue teams scoured the Himalayan area on Wednesday for missing people, and the pilgrimage to the shrine has been suspended, Irshad said.
Authorities in Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province on Wednesday called for army assistance in rescue and relief efforts after torrential rains caused major rivers to swell, inundating villages and displacing more than 150,000 people, officials said.
Rescuers evacuated more than 20,000 people overnight from the outskirts of Lahore, Pakistan’s second-largest city, which also faced the risk of flooding. Those evacuated from areas near Lahore were living along the bed of the Ravi River, said Irfan Ali Kathia, director general of the Punjab Disaster Management Authority.