(Image source from: www.justdial.com)

An avalanche in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir has engulfed the family house where in a 12-year-old girl had been trapped. The girl was found alive on Tuesday though she had been buried for 18 hours.

The girl, Samina Bibi had recalled screaming and shouting for help as she laid trapped under the snow in a room. She told the Reuters lying down on the hospital bed in Muzaffarabad, “I thought I would die there.”

Samina was one among the lucky people who have been receiving treatment at hospital after being trapped and being airlifted out of the avalanche area. Samina had said that she has been suffering with a fractured leg and with blood oozing from her mouth until she had been rescued from the avalanche area.

Shahnaz Bibi, the mother of Samina Bibi has lost her son and another daughter and therefore the rescue of Samina turned out to be nothing less than a miracle. Shahnaz said that she and her brother, Irshad Ahmad, had lost hopes in finding Samina being rescued alive. Shahnaz described the incident as happening in a blink of an eye.

It is said that at least 18 people have died in the incident. Shahnaz said that there had been no prior intimations where in they could not even hear a rumble, as she was recalling the moments before the incident had taken place where in the three-storey building had been buried by the avalanche where she along with her family and others from the village have been sheltering.

The National Disaster Management Authority of Pakistan had said that the total number of deaths in snow-hit areas in Pakistan had increased to 100 in the last couple of days. However, it has been expected increase in snowfall in the region from Friday.

-Shrithika Kushangi