Landslides in India-controlled Kashmir bury 16

Landslides have buried 16 people in the west of the India-controlled Kashmir, police and witnesses have said.

The fatalities were caused in the area of Chadoora, the worst-hit area of the Himalayan region where hundreds were killed in devastating floods last September.

Rescuers recovered six bodies late Monday from landslides in the region and were searching for those still buried as hundreds fled their homes after flooding triggered by heavy rain.

“We have extricated six bodies so far from the landslide,” said senior regional official, Gazanfar Hussain.

A police officer at the site, who asked not to be named, said the remaining 10 bodies were expected to be found “soon” in overnight rescue efforts.

A Kashmiri villager cries as she stands with others during rescue efforts following landslides due to heavy rainfall in the village of Laden at the area of Chadoora some 40 kilometers west of the India-controlled Kashmir’s summer capital of Srinagar on March 30, 2015 (AFP photo).
Regional police chief, Javid Gillani, said 237 families have been evacuated, most of them from Chadoora.

Also on Monday, the government issued a flood alert when the River Jhelum swelled to dangerously high levels.

The 2014 floods killed around 300 people, left thousands more homeless and destroyed property and infrastructure worth an estimated $16 billion.

The government was accused of neglecting flood defenses and faced criticism for its response to the disaster, with many parts of the summer capital, Srinagar, still cut off days later.