Cloudburst kills girl, injures many in Jammu and Kashmir
Earlier this week, a cloudburst killed two boys of a family, while two others went missing in the Pahalgam area of south Kashmir's Anantnag district.
One girl was killed, at least four others seriously injured and several vehicles washed away when a cloudburst struck the Srinagar-Leh highway near Sonmerg in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday evening.
A cloudburst is an extreme amount of precipitation, sometimes accompanied by hail and thunder, that normally lasts no longer than a few minutes but is capable of creating flood-like conditions.
"The girl was washed away by flash floods in Kulan village of the district. Her body was recovered. Some vehicles were also washed away," a police officer said.
The areas hit by cloudbursts were on the north Kashmir route to Amarnath
Yatra base camp at Baltal, but the authorities said all pilgrims were
safe.
Some foreigners from Spain who were staying in nearby locality have been safely evacuated. There were landslides in Sonamarg area but army accommodated the civilians in transit camps.
On the Baltal Amarnath yatra route, a bridge caved in but there was no report of any casualty. A team of engineers camping near Sonamarg for the Z-Morh tunnel, linking the Valley to Kargil, were also evacuated by the army.
On Sunday, two boys of a family died and two others went missing when a
cloudburst struck Pahalgam area of south Kashmir's Anantnag district.