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       MUZAFFARABAD: Rescuers and volunteers on Friday recovered all six bodies from mounds of mud in a suburban area of Muzaffarabad, as the death toll from rain-related incidents across Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) rose to nine following Thursday’s flash floods triggered by torrential rains, officials said.

       Raja Farrukh Qudoos, tehsildar of Patikka, was among the officials supervising the rescue and recovery operation in Nariyah Behak, part of Sarli Sacha village northwest of Muzaffarabad, where a cloudburst-induced flood in Jhugiyan Nullah had smashed around four houses on Thursday.

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       While occupants of other nearby houses had moved to lower areas a few days earlier, one house was still inhabited by a six-member family along with a guest.

       According to Mr Qudoos, the guest managed to escape with fractures, but the family, comprising Muhammad Naveed, his wife, and their four children, was buried alive.

       Hundreds of tourists stranded in Neelum Valley after Ratti Galli access severed

       The rescue operation, suspended on Thursday evening due to heavy rain, resumed at dawn. Five bodies were recovered around 3:30am, Mr Qudoos said, while the body of the eldest daughter was found about 150 feet from the initial site at around 8:30am.

       Onlookers gather near a destroyed bridge after flash floods on the outskirts of Muzaffarabad on August 15, 2025. — AFP

       Giving an overview of the damage in Muzaffarabad, Saeed Qureshi, director operations at the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA), said a total of nine people had lost their lives across AJK — six in Muzaffarabad and one each in Jhelum Valley, Sudhnoti and Bagh districts. Four others were injured.

       He added that 31 houses and 23 shops had been destroyed, while 23 more houses suffered partial damage. Infrastructure losses included two schools, 12 water mills, one main bridge and four pedestrian bridges, one mosque, four motorcycles, one car, a service station, five cattle sheds, and six electricity poles.

       In Neelum Valley, more than 700 tourists — mostly women and children — and over 90 vehicles were stranded at the base camp of Ratti Galli lake on Thursday after rains and flooding damaged around one and a half kilometre portion of the already treacherous road.

       AJK Information Minister Pir Mazhar Saeed, who was present at the base camp, stayed overnight to reassure the tourists, announcing they would not be charged for meals or accommodation until their safe evacuation.

       According to Akhtar Ayoub, district disaster management officer in Neelum Valley, the rescue operation began at 7am on Friday, and by afternoon, almost all stranded tourists were safely evacuated from the Ratti Galli base camp to Dawarian along the main Neelum Valley road.

       The operation was jointly carried out by Rescue 1122, tourist police, traffic police, regular police, Pakistan Army personnel, and officials from the highways department, he said.

       Video clips shared on social media showed rescue workers carrying children in their arms and guiding adults by hand across the raging torrent over hastily installed wooden planks.

       “We are grateful to the people and government of Azad Kashmir. I am truly at a loss for words to express my gratitude for the way they have helped us,” one tourist said in one of the clips.

       Mr Qureshi said that except for the Muzaffarabad-Mansehra Road, all other main roads across AJK were open for all types of traffic.

       Published in Dawn, August 16th, 2025