Jammu, Aug 19: Incessant rains wreaked havoc in the upper reaches of Jammu region killing at least six persons, including five children, and damaging some residential houses.
 Official sources said that four children of a family were killed and six persons wounded when their house collapsed following heavy rainfall in Kathua district of Jammu early this morning.
 The house collapsed due to heavy rains in Makwal hamlet of Billawar, killing four boys and injuring six other members of the family, officials said.
 The deceased have been identified as Muhammad Ramzan (10) son of Roshan Din, Ali Muhammad (11) son of Muhammad Aziz, Muhammad Sadiq (10) son of Saif Din and Muhammad Din (8) son of Roshan Din all residents of village Makwal of tehsil Billawar.
 The injured were Karim Din (50) son of Ilam Din, Muhammad Rafiq (15) son of Roshan Din, Abdul Majid (16) son of Karim Din, Tajdin (20) son of Karim Din, Alam Din (25) son of Muhammad Hussain and Iqa (8) son of Nawab Din all residents of Makwal.
 The condition of all injured was said to be out of danger and four were discharged by doctors.
 Reports reaching here revealed that relatives had gathered in the house of Ilam Din last night to observe the last day of Ramadhan together.
 However, destiny had something else in store for them. One wall of the Kacha house collapsed due to the incessant rains at around 2:30 AM killing four children on the spot.
 The other family members sleeping in nearby room raised alarm and started rescue operation with the help of neighbours but found four minors dead beneath debris.
 All the six injured had to wait for more than six hours to reach the nearby health center due to over flooding of local ravines.
 Member of Legislative Assembly Manohar Lal Sharma, Additional Deputy Commissioner SD Meena, Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Basohli Rafiq Manhas rushed to spot to take stock of the situation.

MINOR AMONG TWO WASHED AWAY
 Meanwhile, two Vaishno Devi pilgrims, including a minor, were washed away in flash floods near Ban Ganga in Katra of Reasi district.
 A senior police officer said that due to heavy rains flash floods were triggered in Ban Ganga in which two persons including a minor boy were washed away.
 “Himanshu Sharma (9) son of Sati Sharma, resident of Balraj Nagar, Kaithal, Haryana was washed away in the flash floods after he slipped to ravine near Geeta Temple during Sunday wee hours,” he said.
 He added said that police personnel acted swiftly to rescue the boy but they could not save his life. His body was later recovered from a distance, he added.
 Meanwhile, another pilgrim identified as Sahil Ahuja (20) son of Surinder Ahuja, resident of Dharampur of district Mansa, Punjab was also washed away in Ban Ganga, when he was taking bath.
 His body was recovered from Kanjali village about 20 kilometers from the incident site, police said. However, three trapped persons were rescued by the police.
 There were also reports of damage to residential houses in the upper reaches of Reasi and Kathua districts.

Lastupdate on : Sun, 19 Aug 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sun, 19 Aug 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Mon, 20 Aug 2012 00:00:00 IST