Three bodies recovered from landslide debris in Jammu region

Continuing its relief effort, the Indian Army Tuesday helped relatives recover the bodies of three people buried under tons of debris in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district, an official said.

"The recent floods have inflicted large casualties, stranded hundreds of people and damaged civilian property including animals and livestock in J&K," Colonel Manish Mehta, defence spokesman, told IANS in winter capital Jammu.

He said: "In one such incident in Rajouri district, three members of Mohammad Aslam's family including himself were buried under debris at Dhok Bagla near Kotranka on Sep 6 due to a massive landslide.

"Recovery of dead bodies of the family became impossible for the civil administration due to continuous and heavy rain in this tough mountainous terrain. The tragedy for the relatives of the family had become more severe as they wished to carry out the last rites of the departed souls.

"Once again the men in uniform were there in their hour of grief. Samote-based Rashtriya Rifles Battalion, under Uniform Force, took over the responsibility of recovering the bodies.

"A team of the battalion headed towards the village negotiating and endangering their lives.

"After a long journey of seven hours, the party was able to reach the fatal site. The landslide over the Dhok (hutment) was so massive that even the natives could not locate the exact location of the collapsed Dhok, but the men in uniform relentlessly searched for any survivors of the family despite harsh weather, chilling winds and heavy rain.

"Finally, after a search of three days, the bodies of all three members were recovered today (Tuesday). The team helped the relatives in carrying out last rites of the departed souls. The relatives of the deceased family expressed their sincere gratitude to the entire team for their humane act".

The Army and Air Force have so far rescued more than 280,000 people who were marooned due to unprecedented floods in different parts of Jammu and Kashmir.