SRINAGAR, India - A top police official says at least 50 people have been killed after a sudden downpour and flashfloods hit a major town in Indian Kashmir's remote and mountainous Ladakh region.
Kuldeep Khoda, the state police chief, says a massive rescue operation including police, paramilitary and the army is under way in Leh town, the main town of the region.
In Srinagar, army spokesman Lt. Col. J.S. Brar, says the flooding injured scores of people and has damaged telephone towers and the region's airport.
The area is a high-altitude desert about 11,500 feet (3,500 meters) above sea level, and normally experiences very low precipitation. (AP)