Avalanches claim five lives in AJK

MIRPUR: At least five people, including two women, were buried alive and three others sustained injuries, in two separate incidents of avalanches in the snow-clad Neelum Valley of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) during the last 24 hours.

Official sources told APP on Monday evening that a man and two women of the same family lost their lives when three houses collapsed after being hit by a snow avalanche in village Keil Kudyaan Baila of the Neelum Valley in the wee hours of Monday.

In a similar incident, two kids, including a minor girl, were killed and three other schoolchildren sustained injuries after they got buried in a avalanche in Lawaat Bala area of the Neelum Valley. However, three of the schoolchildren were rescued by the locals immediately.

AJK President Sardar Masood Khan expressed deep sense of shock and grief over the casualties. He directed the local administration and health department for providing every possible relief and assistance to all the rain-hit population, particularly those injured in the tragic incidents.

Various parts of the AJK particularly the upper reaches of the state — Leepa and Neelum valleys and Bagh and Havaili districts — are in the grip of heavy snowfall and torrential rains since previous night, which has badly hit the routine life of people.