Flash floods kill at least 50 in Indian Kashmir

A sudden overnight downpour and flash floods killed at least 50 people and injured 160 in the remote and mountainous Ladakh region of Indian Kashmir, police and the army said today.

The flooding also damaged telephone towers and the region’s airport, army spokesman Lt Col JS Brar said in Srinagar.

The affected area is a high-altitude desert about 11,500 feet above sea level and it normally experiences very low precipitation.

“Mud and water is everywhere,” said Kashmiri businessman Kausar Makhdoomi, who was on holiday in Leh, the region’s main town.

He said the rainfall started before midnight and water later started coursing down the area’s mountains in streams and rivulets. The flooding had damaged several homes and other buildings by today.

“There was utter confusion and people started to panic,” he said.

Police, paramilitary troops and the army have launched a massive rescue operation in Leh, state police chief Kuldeep Khoda said.