Srinagar, August 30, 2025: At least 11 people, including seven members of a single family, have lost their lives in landslides and a cloudburst triggered by heavy rains in Jammu and Kashmir’s Reasi and Ramban districts. Several houses were damaged, and five people are reported missing as rescue operations continue.

In Reasi district’s Mahore area, a landslide struck the home of Nazir Ahmad, 38, in Baddar village overnight. Ahmad, his wife, and their five children, aged between five and 13, were killed when the house collapsed. Rescue teams recovered their bodies from beneath the mud and debris, highlighting the scale of devastation in the region.

A separate incident occurred in Ramban district’s Rajgrah village, where a cloudburst caused flash floods and landslides. Five people were swept away, and several homes were damaged. Bodies of Om Raj, Vidhiya Devi, Dwarka Nath, and one other unidentified victim have been recovered, while search efforts continue for a missing person feared dead.

These incidents come amid extreme weather conditions that have battered the Union Territory over recent weeks, claiming over 160 lives, many of them pilgrims. The heavy rains have also severely impacted infrastructure. Train services between Katra in Jammu and the rest of the country have been suspended for the fifth consecutive day. The vital Srinagar-Jammu National Highway remains closed due to extensive destruction at multiple points, and officials have not yet provided a timeline for reopening.

In response to the worsening situation, all government and private schools across the Jammu division have been ordered closed until August 30. Authorities have advised heads of institutions to explore online classes for students in Classes 9 to 12, wherever suitable infrastructure and internet connectivity are available.

Earlier, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah reviewed the flood situation in the region and expressed concern over the damage caused by continuous rainfall. Speaking to ANI, CM Abdullah drew parallels to the devastating floods of 2014, stressing that further rainfall could have triggered a disaster of similar scale.

“If it had rained for 1–1.5 more days, we would have faced a lot of difficulties. However, the water has now started receding… But going forward, I will have to hold meetings with the officers myself to understand what we did after 2014. If this is the situation after two days of rain, then God forbid if it had rained for four days, our situation would have been like it was in 2014… We will have to take stock of our shortcomings because we cannot continue to live in fear,” CM Abdullah said.

The region remains on high alert as rescue and relief operations continue. Local authorities are working to provide temporary shelters for displaced families and assess further damage to infrastructure. The heavy rains have underscored the vulnerability of the mountainous terrain in Reasi and Ramban districts, prompting calls for enhanced disaster preparedness in the Union Territory.