Avalanches, Heavy Snow Kill At Least 10 in Kashmir

A man rides a motorcycle as it snows in Srinagar. The Kashmir valley was cut off from rest of India due to heavy snowfall. | Mukhtar Khan | AP
A man rides a motorcycle as it snows in Srinagar. The Kashmir valley was cut off from rest of India due to heavy snowfall. | Mukhtar Khan | AP

Indian officials say heavy snowfall has unleashed avalanches and collapsed homes in Kashmir, killing at least 10 people.

Authorities evacuated dozens of people Wednesday from high-risk areas across the Indian-controlled region of the territory divided with and claimed by Pakistan.

Police officer Imtiyaz Hussain says avalanches killed two Indian army soldiers camped in the mountainous Kargil region near Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, as well as three Nepalese laborers working nearby.

Five more people were killed when dozens of homes crumpled under the weight of a heavy snow pack in the southern Kulgam and Shopian areas. The snow has also caused power lines to snap and cut some areas off from the rest of India.

Avalanches and landslides are common in the Himalayan region.

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