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NEW DELHI — Officials in the northern Indian state of Jammu andKashmir said Saturday that more than 100 people had died in five days of flooding, with rivers swollen far above their normal level and flowing at unusual speed.
In the region of Kashmir, at least 40 bridges have been washed away, and four districts are cut off from the summer state capital, Srinagar, said Rohit Kansal, a civilian official who is supervising rescue and relief operations in the Srinagar district. Thousands of people are living in relief camps because their homes have collapsed or are submerged in water.
An army spokesman said that 7,000 soldiers had been deployed in the region, distributing food and shelter and transporting people to safer places. On Saturday, a boat carrying 11 soldiers capsized in floodwaters, and two soldiers were still missing by the evening, said S. D. Goswami, a spokesman for the army’s northern command.
A bus loaded with more than 50 wedding guests was washed away by floodwaters on Thursday, but the force of the wind and rain prevented rescue crews from reaching the bus. Thirty-six bodies had been recovered by Saturday, said an official in the Jammu region.
As the torrential rain continued for a fifth day, landslides threatened many villages. Teams of rescue workers had been airlifted to the region’s capital, where army and air force divisions were already deployed.
“The situation is still very grim,” said Vinod Kaul, the top civilian official responsible for relief and rescue operations.
Floods have also killed at least 110 people in Pakistan and destroyed hundreds of homes there, officials said, according to The Associated Press.
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