Three soldiers and four civilians killed in avalanches, flood waters in J & K

The situation, however, looked up a bit on Friday with the water level of rivers receding in several places.

According to reports, the heavy snowfall in Jammu and Kashmir triggered multiple avalanches, in which an army picket in Batalik sector in Ladakh got buried with five soldiers on Thursday afternoon.

The bodies of three soldiers have been recovered while efforts are on to rescue the two others.

In another disaster, a  father and his son were killed by an avalanche in Kargil district of the Ladakh region, while a woman was killed by lightning in Rajouri district of Jammu region and a 10-year-old girl drowned in north Kashmir's Kupwara district, reports said.

The girl's body was washed away by a surging mountain stream.

Meanwhile, allaying the fears of a widespread flood across the valley, water level in the Jhelum and it's tributaries started receding on Friday after rainfall stopped on Thursday night  

According to officials, the water level in Jhelum started receding at around 3 am at Sangam in South Kashmir, though the flood like situation in Srinagar hasn't improved much.

“The water level at Ram Munshi Bagh in Srinagar is still increasing and we hope it  will decrease slowly,” Chief Engineer Irrigation and Flood Control Division Mohammad Hanief Lone told India Blooms in Srinagar.

The water level at Sangam was recorded at 22.10 feet at around 2:00 am while it was 21.70 feet at 7:00 am on Friday morning. The water level of the tributaries like Rambiara and Lidder streams has receded substantially.

Altogether four persons have been killed and five others have gone missing following incessant rains in Jammu and Kashmir as authorities declared flood in the valley. 

An avalanche hit an Indian army post in the Batalik sector of Ladakh region on Thursday burying five soldiers. .

Two soldiers have been rescued so far while the operation to locate the other three is still on.

(Reporting by Saleem Iqbal Qadri)