On cam: Massive avalanche hits J&K's Sonamarg; engulfs houses, tourist resort

A massive avalanche struck the Sarbal area of Sonamarg in Jammu & Kashmir's Ganderbal district on Tuesday night, engulfing houses, vehicles and a tourist resort.

Despite the scale and impact of the incident, officials confirmed that no casualties or injuries have been reported so far.

The avalanche struck Sonamarg in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district at around 10.12 pm. CCTV footage from the area shows a powerful wall of snow rushing down the mountainside and engulfing several buildings in its path.

VIDEO | An avalanche hit Sonamarg tourist resort in Jammu and Kashmir late Tuesday night, but there was no loss of life, officials said.

They said the avalanche hit Sonamarg resort in central Kashmir's Ganderbal district at 10.12 pm on Tuesday. The massive avalanche was caught… pic.twitter.com/Dw5Dl9FCDp — Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) January 27, 2026

Emergency teams and local authorities moved in quickly to assess the situation and keep watch for any further risk.

The authorities had on Monday warned of a high-intensity or high-danger avalanche in the district.

Sonamarg and most other parts of Jammu and Kashmir have received moderate to heavy snowfall over the last 24 hours. Fresh snowfall also forced the closure of the Jammu-Srinagar national highway and led to the cancellation of all flights at Srinagar airport, leaving hundreds of tourists stuck in the valley.

The snowfall had begun late Monday night and soon covered the entire region. Officials said that National Highway 44 had to be shut down because snow had piled up near the Navyug tunnel at Qazigund and Banihal.

At Srinagar International Airport, all 58 scheduled flights, 29 arrivals and 29 departures, were cancelled. Authorities explained that the runway could not be used safely because the snowfall continued throughout the day.