Avalanches kill 225 people in Kashmir
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-02-23 22:19

WALTANGO, India - Villagers in Kashmir joined soldiers on Wednesday in hunting for victims of avalanches that killed 225 people but in some places the dead lay unburied because the snow is too deep to dig graves.

Nearly 300 people are missing after the heaviest snow in more than 40 years triggered avalanches that swept away hundreds of homes and blanketed the Himalayan region.

"A mountain of snow came down with a roar and swept everything which came in its way, including my wife and children. I dont know why I'm alive," Ghulam Rasool, a resident of Waltango village, told Reuters.

Rescuers dug through the snow to find more than 100 bodies in Waltango, which was flattened by an avalanche on Sunday.

"My children were reading their school books when the avalanche hit at jet speed," said a weeping Bashir Ahmad.

The body of Bashir's 10-year-old son was found about 500 metres (yards) away from their home.

Residents of another village dug mass graves to bury dozens of dead. Some victims lay in a mosque while many more were lined up outside, shrouded in white sheets.

But in Kapran village the dead must wait.

"Piles of bodies are lying on the snow. We have no place to bury them because the whole area is covered under a thick layer of snow," said villager Mohammad Jabar Shah.

Military officials said they expected more poor weather and urged people living on high ground to move out before more snow falls.

TOLL MAY RISE

The army, which has a large presence in Jammu and Kashmir

state because of a separatist revolt, said helicopters were dropping food and blankets to snowbound villages and to soldiers and civilians stranded on a mountain road that connects the Kashmir Valley with the rest of India..

Snow was 70 feet deep (21 metres) in some places.

Army chief General General J.J. Singh said the army would provide snowmobiles and officers from the High Altitude Warfare School to get help to remote villages.

"In certain areas, villages have been completely wiped out. We will establish temporary camps of snow tents so that people are shielded from the cold," he said.

Singh, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee and the leader of the ruling Congress party, Sonia Gandhi, visited Kashmir on Wednesday to assess the damage.

Mukherjee said the death the toll may rise and urged fortitude.

"Let us jointly and resolutely fight against this natural calamity," he said.

It was unlikely any more survivors would be found, an officer said.

"After three days of being buried under snow, the chances of survival are very low. Those who have been rescued suffer from cold injuries," said Colonel V.K. Batra.

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