Jammu, Aug 30: Tragedy struck a remote hamlet in Jammu and Kashmir’s Reasi district early Saturday when a massive landslide triggered by incessant rains reduced a house to rubble, leaving seven members of a family feared dead.
The calamity occurred in Badder village of Mahore, where torrential downpour loosened the soil on the hillside and sent boulders cascading down, flattening the residence of Nazir Ahmad. Officials said rescue teams rushed to the spot after being alerted by locals but the family members remain untraceable under the debris.
Nazir Ahmad, 38, his wife Wazira Begum, 35, and their five young sons – Bilal, 13, Mohd Mustafa, 11, Mohd Adil, 8, Mohd Mubarak, 6, and Mohd Wasim, 5 – were inside the house when the disaster struck. Their names were released by authorities as rescuers, braving hostile terrain and continuing rains, struggled to clear the mud and rock that engulfed the home.
Villagers described the incident as a heart-rending scene, with entire families rushing with shovels and bare hands to assist the rescue effort even before official teams arrived. The narrow mountainous track leading to the village further delayed heavy machinery from reaching the site.
Officials said continuous rainfall has hampered operations, but efforts are on to retrieve the bodies. “The area is prone to landslides, but the intensity of this one has been devastating,” a rescue worker remarked.
The tragedy has cast a pall of gloom across Mahore, with neighbours and relatives gathering in the rain-drenched village awaiting news of the missing. Authorities are monitoring the situation closely as the region reels under the impact of unrelenting monsoon rains.
