Heavy snowfall triggers landslides in J&K; 13 dead

Srinagar: Eleven people were killed on Wednesday in avalanches and house collapses in different parts of Jammu and Kashmir, police said. A senior police officer told IANS that two soldiers were killed when an avalanche hit the Batra camp of the army in Kargil district early Wednesday. He said three Nepali labourers were also killed in another avalanche in Kaksar area of Kargil district. [caption id=“attachment_1430995” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  A landslide in Jammu and Kashmir. AFP.[/caption] “The labourers were working in a stone quarry when the tragedy struck,” the officer said. “Four members of a family were buried alive under another avalanche in Balsaran Danau Kandi Marg village in Kulgam district of the Kashmir Valley.” The officer said their bodies have been recovered. He said that another woman was killed in a house collapse in Qazigund area of Kulgam district during the night as the roof of the house gave way under heavy snowfall, and another woman died in a house collapse in Shopian district. The state disaster management authority has already issued a warning in the higher reaches of the Kashmir Valley and the Jammu region about more avalanches and landslides. IANS