Srinagar: A soldier and a child died due to the high velocity winds that swept Kashmir Valley on Wednesday evening. The windstorm caused widespread property damages triggering panic and fear among the residents.
According to the official sources, windstorm damaged houses, uprooted trees and electric poles causing power breakdown in the entire Valley while in North Kashmir two persons died after they came under falling trees.
A five-year-old girl, Iqra Jan, daughter of Muhammad Ashraf Khan of Faqir Bhag Chandoosa died after a tree fell on their Kotha in tourist resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmirs Baramulla district last evening.
He said the mother Akbar Jahan and brother Hilal Ahmed of the deceased suffered injuries in the mishap.
The official added that an Army soldier Surinder Kumar of 64 Field Regiment died after a tree fell on him in Tangmarg area of Baramulla district.
Reports from Sopore town said that stormy winds caused widespread damage to residential and commercial properties in the area. Witnesses said that scores of roofs of residential houses were smashed away by the stormy winds while as hundreds of trees were uprooted. Cherry and apple orchards too suffered damages by the winds, which also led to breakdown of electricity.
Lawmaker from Karnah Assembly Constituency Raja Manzoor informed the lower house of Legislative Assembly that scores of residential houses was completely damaged in the windstorm. He urged upon the government to provide assistance to the victims. The windstorm was witnesses across Kashmir. In Srinagar city particularly in Shahar-e-Khas the roof tops of some residential houses were smashed away while the stormy winds caused damages to windowpanes of the houses, said an official adding that the actual damage caused by the storm overnight is being assessed.
Owners of the floating palaces, houseboats in Dal lake and in the Jhelum river spent a sleepless night as the waves triggered by the storm kept rocking their boats. “The storm created panic among us. We guarded the mooring ropes for fear of it getting snapped and the houseboat going adrift in the river,” said a houseboat owner.
Reports of rooftops of houses having been blown away by the storm were poured in from other towns of Kashmir Valley.
Residents in most areas said they were fear stricken as the high velocity winds created panic.
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