At least 50 killed in flash flooding in India’s portion of Kashmir
By APThursday, August 5, 2010
Flash floods kill at least 50 in Indian Kashmir
SRINAGAR, India — A sudden overnight downpour and flashfloods killed at least 50 people and injured 160 in the remote and mountainous Ladakh region of Indian Kashmir, police and army officials said Friday.
The flooding also damaged telephone towers and the region’s airport, army spokesman Lt. Col. J.S. Brar said in Srinagar. The affected area is a high-altitude desert about 11,500 feet (3,500 meters) above sea level, and it normally experiences very low precipitation.
“Mud and water is everywhere,” said Kashmiri businessman Kausar Makhdoomi, who was on holiday in Leh, the region’s main town.
Makhdoomi said the rainfall started before midnight and that water later started coursing down the area’s mountains in streams and rivulets. The flooding had damaged several homes and other buildings by Friday morning, he said.
“There was utter confusion and people started to panic,” he said.
Police, paramilitary troops and the army have launched a massive rescue operation in Leh, state police chief Kuldeep Khoda told The Associated Press in Srinagar.
Few other details were immediately available.
