Islamabad, March 21 (DPA) At least 37 people were presumed killed in a series of landslides triggered by torrential rain in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, a spokesman for military rescue units in the area said Wednesday.
A village in the area of Toba Syedan was buried late Tuesday under tonnes of mud, apparently killing 27 people, Major Farooq Nasir told DPA. Sixteen residents reportedly survived the accident.
Soldiers and locals recovered six bodies but further mudslides hampered rescue operations in the area, which was cut off by heavy rain and snowfall.
Meanwhile, doctors and paramedics arrived on foot with supplies of tents, blankets and food from the regional capital Muzaffarabad, located 60 km to the west.
"We are waiting for the weather to clear so a helicopter can be dispatched to airlift the injured, who are our top priority," Nasir said.
Some media cited almost twice the number of casualties but the spokesman said population data in the afflicted area was misleading or non-existent.
"People here exaggerate things a lot and declared a single room structure as a house and sometimes even a village," he added.
Meanwhile, 10 members of a family were killed and one was injured by another mudslide that engulfed their house in another district in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir.
The region was badly hit by a 7.6-magnitude earthquake in October 2005 that left more than 73,000 people dead and rendered an estimated 3 million homeless. Most of the victims still live in makeshift structures.