At least seven people, including children, were killed and about 50 injured in a landslide at the Siadbaba temple waterfall area in the Reasi district of Jammu on Sunday.
Police said that five bodies have been retrieved from the debris and JCB machines were removing the slush to see whether more people were trapped there.
Army and police personnel were engaged in the operations. However, residents of the nearby villages were the first to reach the spot and rescue the injured people.
People complained that no ambulance came to the spot even after numerous phone calls. The injured were carried to the district hospital at Reasi by locals in their private cars where only one doctor was on duty. Most injured had to wait for long to get first aid.
The seriously injured have been rushed to the medical college at Jammu while others were being treated in the district hospital.
Large numbers of devotees and picnickers visit the place, particularly on Sundays. Reports said that the landslide occured when men, women and children were sitting near the waterfall.
The Siadbaba temple complex located on the banks of Chenab river has one of the biggest waterfalls in North India. The water on the temple complex is considered good for the treatment of skin diseases. The complex was damaged during the floods of 2014.
