By IANS
Srinagar/Jammu : At least 18 people were killed as avalanches hit Jammu and Kashmir Friday amid a bone-chilling cold spell that has plunged temperatures in large parts of northern India.
Six members of a family were killed while one miraculously escaped when an avalanche hit their house in the mountainous village of Pethallan near Kapran in Anantnag district, 110 km from here.
Avalanches killed four others in Kulgam and Bandipore districts while the army and police rescued 32 villagers in the region.
And in Jammu region, eight people were killed in Ramban and Udhampur districts even as the authorities fear more avalanches in the mountainous regions that are experiencing the heaviest snowfall in decades.
Officials said rescue teams had left for Pethallan village in Anantnag district to rescue those trapped in their homes.
Kashmir Divisional Commissioner Mehboob Iqbal told IANS that villagers rescued six-year-old Riyaz Ahmad but couldn’t save other family members.
“It took them hours to dig out the bodies from under the snow,” he said. The authorities have asked people in the avalanche prone areas not to venture out of their homes in the hilly areas in north and south Kashmir.
Policemen and soldiers have been separately sent to Kulgam district’s Gulab Bagh village, 85 km from here in the foothills of the Pir Panjal mountain range, after two people who miraculously escaped an avalanche called for help.
The body of Muhammad Shafi Chechi was recovered from under tonnes of snow. Earlier reports said around 40 villagers were trapped. The police said 32 people were rescued and taken to a school building in Qazigund.
An avalanche also struck Nayal village near the border town of Gurez, 120 km from here in Bandipore.
“One house was washed away in the avalanche and three people were killed,” a police official said. He added that the body of a woman, identified as Sitara Begum, was recovered while a search was on for the other two.
A police official said 600 villagers evacuated from Waltengu Nar village over the past four days have been lodged in school buildings here.
Several people were killed and many homes destroyed when avalanches struck the region in February 2005.
While Friday morning was sunny in Jammu after five days of heavy rains, it was overcast and snowed heavily in the upper reaches of the Jammu region.
The valley continues to be blocked as the Jammu-Srinagar highway remained closed for the fifth day Friday and flights were suspended for the fourth day.
Free food centres have been set up by the administration for stranded passengers in the winter capital Jammu.
The administration has also made arrangements for the stranded passengers to fly free to Srinagar in civil and air force planes once the weather improves.
T.K. Jotshi, assistant director of the weather office, told IANS: “This has been the heaviest February snowfall in the valley during the last five years.”
The government has asked security forces to be fully prepared to meet any situation, especially in the mountainous districts of Doda and Kishtwar, which have recorded more than 15 feet of snowfall – the highest in decades.
Six members of a family were killed in Ramsoo area of Ramban districts when an avalanche hit their house. Two others were killed in Latti area of Udhampur district.
In the worst hit Doda and Kishtwar districts, up to 15 feet snow has accumulated at some places, triggering fears of deadly avalanches.
The two districts along with areas in the adjoining Ramban district have been experiencing record snowfall for days.
Areas like Kishtwar town that would normally receive a few inches of snow have recorded the history’s heaviest snowfall at 2.5 feet.
Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has asked army, paramilitary and police forces to alert their nearest formations in the snow bound areas, especially in the upper reaches.