NEW DELHI, Aug 6 (Saba) - At least 85 people were killed and hundreds injured in flash floods following a large cloudburst in Indias northernmost state Jammu and Kashmir, Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) reported on Friday.

A large number of people have reportedly gone missing, even as rescue operations are on to air-lift the survivors and the injured.

The cloudburst took place in the states Leh-Ladakh area. As many as four policemen are also learnt to have been been killed while they were trying to rescue the survivors.

Communication links have broken down in the affected areas, due to which rescue work is being hampered. The Srinagar-Leh Highway running across the area has also been cut off, since a crucial bridge has been washed away in heavy floods.

The impact of the flash floods following the cloud burst was such that hundreds of houses were completely razed off. Nearly 300 injured persons have so far been admitted in an Army Hospital in the area.

Meanwhile, the countrys Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has expressed grief over the huge loss of human life and property, and announced an ex-gratia relief of around USD 2,200 to the kin of the deceased, and USD 1,100 each to the seriously injured.

Saba