Tuesday, February 22 2005 15:25 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Srinagar: The death toll in the massive snow avalanches in Jammu and Kashmir has mounted to 116 with the recovery of 32 more bodies, police today (Feb 22, 2005) said.

The rescue and relief teams pulled out 74 people from under the snow in injured condition in Anantnag district today, police officials said.

"So far we have recovered 32 bodies today from the three villages in Qazigund and Verinag areas of Anantnag in south Kashmir, taking the death toll to 116 in the disaster," the officials said.

Massive avalanches hit Nagni, Panznar and Waltingo villages, 10 km northwest of Qazigund, and Chitnaar in Kapran area of Verinag on Saturday night (Feb 19, 2005) and Sunday morning (Feb 20, 2005), burying almost everything under huge pile of snow, they said.

They said 74 persons were rescued from the avalanches and referred to medical camps set up by the Army and various hospitals for treatment.

Yesterday (Feb 21, 2005), 20 persons were rescued by the search teams, the officials informed.

The exact number of the missing people was still not known, but local residents who are assisting the search parties comprising Army and police claimed that over 50 persons were yet untraced.

The rescue and search operation which began yesterday were stopped at night. It recommenced early this morning with the recovery of ten bodies from Panznar village, while 22 bodies were recovered from Nagni, Waltingo and Chitnaar villages, they said.