Heavy snow, avalanches claim 8 lives in Kashmir

Kashmir remained cut off from the
rest of India for a second day Sunday as heavy snowfall
triggered avalanches that killed at least eight people in
the Himalayan region, police and officials said.
Road and air links with the Kashmir valley were snapped as
the main airport in India's Jammu-Kashmir state was shut
and highways were closed to traffic. Power outages plunged
large parts of the state into darkness, while telephone and
mobile links remained cut off.
At least 4,000 motorists and truckers were stranded on the
main Jammu-Srinagar highway which links the two capitals of
the state, after the highway was blocked in many places by
landslides.