2 bodies retrieved, 5 missing

Ramban, August, 27: Two bodies, including the body of a 12-year-old boy, were recovered on Tuesday as the rescue operation continued in the Rajgarh area of Ramban district to trace out missing persons following the cloudburst, officials said on Tuesday.

Officials said that the cloudburst that occurred in Panchayats Kumate, Dhraman, and Halla in Rajgarh tehsil in Ramban district on Monday afternoon, caused flash floods in local Tanger, Dadi, and other streams.

According to Tehsildar Rajgarh, Major Singh, seven persons from three different families were reportedly missing in the flash floods that occurred after the cloudburst on Monday.

Officials on Tuesday said that the rescue team had so far managed to retrieve the bodies of two persons – Yasir Ahmad, 20, son of Bhag Din of Gadgram and Khalid Ahmed Parihar, 12, son of Sajad Hussain of Suli Kumate.

They said that efforts were underway to locate the bodies of the remaining five missing persons.

Officials said Naseema Begum, 42, and her daughter Nazia Banoo, 6, of Gadgram, Rajgarh; Gulshan Begum, 42, and her daughter Seerat Banoo, 8, of Suli Rajgarh; and Shazia Banoo, 6, daughter of Sajjad Ahmad of Dungar Dandllah are still missing in the rubble.

The rescue team comprising local volunteers, the Police, and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) are on the job to trace the missing persons in rubble and debris in the Ajgarh stream.

Two government schools at Gadgram and Sonsua and many other structures and watermills also suffered damages while three parked vehicles were washed away by the flash floods on Monday, officials said.