Excelsior Correspondent
POONCH, June 19: A driver was killed after landslides triggered by cloudburst hit a truck and several shops in Mandi tehsil of Poonch district today.
Report said about 200 meters away from main Bus Stand Mandi town, landslides after cloudburst damaged a truck and at least seven shops, leading to suspension of vehicular movement on Poonch- Mandi road for hours today. The truck was parked at a shop and was being unloaded when debris hit it and driver got stuck in the vehicle’s cabin.
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The locals of the area, police and Army launched rescue operation, Three private JCB machines were pressed into service and after one and half hour’s operation driver was taken out of the truck and shifted to Sub District Hospital, Mandi where he succumbed to injuries.
He was identified as Tariq Ahmed, son of Said Akbar, resident of Marhote in Mandi Tehsil. Several shops were fully/partially damaged in the incident. The Station House Officer Mandi said that police have entered a natural calamity report in this connection.
Meanwhile, rains continued to lash Kashmir today for the second day leading to the drop in temperatures while Meteorological Department forecast freak weather till Tuesday.
It was raining heavily in parts of Kashmir while in other areas the rainfall was intermittent. The drop in temperatures forced people to pull out woollens from wardrobes. People also used heaters to keep themselves warm.
A Meteorological Department official here said that Srinagar received 16.9 mm of rainfall and recorded a low of 12.6 degree Celsius against 15.1 degree Celsius the previous night. The temperature, he said, was 2.2°C below normal.
Qazigund had 23.4 mm of rainfall during the time and recorded a low of 10.0 degree Celsius against 13.0 degree Celsius the previous night. The temperature was 3.3 degree Celsius below normal.
Pahalgam received 15.9mm of rainfall during the time and recorded a minimum of 7.7 degree Celsius against 10.4 degree Celsius the previous night. The temperature was 0.8 degree Celsius below normal.
Kokernag had 26.4 mm of rain and recorded a low of 9.1 degree Celsius against 11.8 degree Celsius the previous night. It was 4.0 degree Celsius below normal.
Gulmarg received 36.8 mm of rain during the time and recorded a low of 3.5 degree Celsius against 6.0 degree Celsius the previous night. The temperature was 5.8 degree Celsius below normal.
Kupwara received 3.4 mm of rainfall and recorded a low of 11.5 degree Celsius against 12.5 degree Celsius the previous night. The temperature was 1.7 degree Celsius below normal.
Weatherman has predicted erratic weather with intermittent rain or snow over higher reaches and passes etc in Jammu and Kashmir till June 21.
“Generally cloudy weather is expected with intermittent rain/snow over higher reaches, passes etc from today till June 21st and improvement thereafter,” the official said.
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