At least 34 people were killed after days of intense monsoon rains prompted deadly landslides and flash floods in the Indian-controlled part of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.
Most of the victims were pilgrims killed along the route to Vaishno Devi, a popular Hindu shrine. Rescue workers, including soldiers and local volunteers, pulled bodies from the debris after rain sent boulders and mud crashing down along the route to the temple.
At least 15 inches of rain overwhelmed rivers and drains in the Jammu side of the territory in a period of less than 24 hours, with Tuesday experiencing the heaviest rainfall recorded in a day there, according to India’s Meteorological Department. The deluge led to burst river banks and heavily damaged bridges.
Jammu lies just south of the Kashmir Valley, a region India and Pakistan have disputed for decades. The area is politically sensitive and its mountainous terrain makes it prone to natural disasters.
In a separate episode, a sudden cloudburst killed at least four people in Doda, a remote mountainous district also in the Indian-controlled part of Jammu and Kashmir.
This month cloudbursts in the region along another pilgrimage route killed at least 70 people, with 25 still missing.
Over the past few days in Jammu, more than 3,500 residents were evacuated from low-lying areas, officials said. The authorities shut government offices and schools as landslides severed two highways that connect Jammu to the rest of India.
Rail services in the Himalayan region were suspended, flights delayed and mobile and internet networks disrupted, leaving millions out of contact.
Officials said that the scale of the disaster and the rough terrain had complicated rescue operations. Teams from the Indian Army, the National Disaster Response Force and the local police were carrying out evacuations in several areas.
Manoj Sinha, the lieutenant governor of Jammu and Kashmir, posted on social media that the authorities were ensuring the supply of aid and providing assistance to those affected by the disaster.
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