Construction worker killed in landslide along Jammu-Srinagar national highway

Banihal: A worker of a construction company was killed in a landslide along the Jammu-Srinagar national highway which remained closed for the fourth consecutive day on Thursday, officials said.

The construction worker identified as Deshpaul (31), a resident of Uttar Pradesh, was hit by the landslide outside his company headquarters near Seri in Ramban district around 8.30 am, police officials said.

They said the deceased was moving towards the mess of the company for breakfast when the incident occurred. His body was retrieved and shifted to hospital for postmortem.

An official of the traffic department said the 270-km long highway, the only all weather road linking Kashmir with the rest of the country, remained closed for the fourth day following a fresh landslide at Kishtwari Pather near Banihal.

“The restoration work is in progress and will take some time,” he said.

The traffic on the strategic highway was suspended on Monday following multiple landslides triggered by heavy rains at over a dozen places between Ramban and Banihal.

The highway was cleared for partial one-way traffic on Wednesday but the fresh landslide at Kishtwari Pather blocked the road again, the officials said.