J&K: Seven killed as cloudburst triggers flash flood in Kathua

Seven persons were killed and six injured in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district on Sunday after a cloudburst triggered a flash flood, Deccan Herald reported.

The cloudburst hit the Jod Ghati village in Rajbagh area during the night, the newspaper quoted Divisional Commissioner Ramesh Kumar as saying. The flash flood cut access to the village and damaged land and property, PTI reported.

The persons died in a landslide following the flash flood, Kumar was quoted as saying.

This came three days after 60 persons were killed in a flash flood triggered by a cloudburst in the Union Territory’s Kishtwar district. More than 100 persons were injured in the incident on Thursday.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Sunday expressed his condolences to the families of those who were killed. He had directed officials to undertake relief, rescue and evacuation measures, his office said on social media.

Union Minister Jitendra Singh, who represents the Udhampur Lok Sabha seat, said that the railway track, the national highway and the police station in Kathua had also been damaged in the cloudburst. Kathua is part of the Udhampur Lok Sabha constituency.

“The civilian administration, military and paramilitary has swung into action,” Singh said on social media. “The situation [is] being continuously monitored.”

The Kathua district administration issued an advisory for “heavy to very heavy rainfall” in the region, urging...

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