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| 23 February 2005 | Wednesday | 13 Muharram 1426 |
Kashmiris told to quit mountain homes
SRINAGAR, Feb 22: India's army warned Kashmiris on Tuesday of fresh avalanches in the valley, where the death toll from massive snow slides hit 188, and urged people living in the most mountainous areas to flee their homes.
Dozens of people were missing in the Himalayan region in what Maj-Gen Raj Mehta called "an unprecedented crisis". "People living in higher reaches must vacate before they're overtaken by tragedy," Mehta told reporters in the snowbound main city of Srinagar.
The army, backed by police and paramilitary forces and civilian volunteers, battled high winds and poor visibility to search for survivors of avalanches that struck southern Kashmir over the past four days.
But a police officer in Srinagar said officials were losing hope for the missing buried under snow in six villages which were flattened by weekend avalanches, amid below-zero temperatures.
Police and army officials said a total of 188 people had died in the past four days, 185 of them in the weekend snow slides and three in an avalanche on Tuesday. "We have found 73 bodies today," in addition to those found earlier, said a senior police officer in Qazigund, near the avalanche-hit area 80km south of Srinagar.
The air force searched for the missing and dropped food packages. Air Force Group Captain Manavandera Singh said 1,700 people including 40 foreign tourists had been airlifted to safety.
A new avalanche on Tuesday morning struck the Rangamunda area, 80km south of Srinagar, killing three people and leaving six missing. Mehta warned that warmer temperatures expected in the next few days could unleash fresh avalanches.
The number of people affected by the army's call to leave was not immediately known. But authorities planned to set up emergency shelters in concrete public buildings for people to take refuge for the next 10 to 15 days.
"Each hill has become loaded with snow and just walking can trigger avalanches," Mehta said. Up to 17 feet of snow has blanketed the region since Thursday, weather officials said.
Kashmir has a massive army presence as the Indian government is seeking to suppress a bloody 15-year-old revolt against New Delhi's rule. Mehta said only 78 were officially listed as missing. But government officials said it was impossible to give a firm figure for the number of dead and missing.
"It's an enormous tragedy. The number of dead may be higher as many areas are still inaccessible. We've mobilised all resources to rescue survivors," senior state government official Nayeem Akhtar told AFP.
A police officer in Srinagar told AFP the total number of people unaccounted for amounted to "several hundred." So far, some 216 people have died in two weeks of heavy snow in Kashmir, including 19 soldiers. The toll was the worst since 1996 when over 230 people were killed in avalanches.
Srinagar was without power for a fifth day. "We're freezing in cold. There's no electricity. We pray this ends soon," said Aisha Begum, 82, huddled under blankets. The heavy snow as cut road and air links to the state. -AFP
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