A Kashmiri clears snow from the roof of his house in Srinagar. The death toll from avalanches in Indian Kashmir since Saturday rose to 80 after 35 more bodies were recovered Monday from Verinag and Poonch districts south of Srinagar, officials said. (Photo: Xinhua/AFP)

A massive avalanche triggered by the heaviest snowfall in 15 years in India-administered Kashmir has killed at least 115 people. (Photo: Xinhua/AFP)

A Kashmiri man clears snow to uncover his car in Srinagar. At least 58 people were killed at the weekend with scores missing in Indian Kashmir after the heaviest snowfall in two decades caused avalanches and brought the region to a near-halt, officials said. (Photo: Xinhua/AFP)

    NEW DELHI, Feb. 21 (Xinhuanet) -- A massive avalanche triggered by the heaviest snowfall in 15 years in India-administered Kashmir has killed at least 115 people, taking the weather-related deaths to nearly 140, the Indo-Asian News Service (IANS) reported Monday.

    Indian soldiers carrying out a rescue operation in the Banihal area that was hit by the avalanche Saturday night have found 97 bodies, IANS quoted local officials as saying.

    At least 200 people from three villages buried under tons of snow near Verinag in Banihal, some 110 km from Srinagar, are still missing.

    "The area remains cut off from the rest of the Kashmir Valley," an official involved in rescue operations said. Officials fear the death toll could go up further.

    Initial reports from Banihal on Sunday put the fatalities at 15,while at least 40 deaths took place in the Jammu region.

    Teams of soldiers are using sniffer dogs to scour the Banihal area for survivors. The dogs are trained to detect survivors of avalanches buried under deep snow.

    The avalanche occurred some 10 km southwest of Verinag, the source of the Jhelum river.

    Normal life was badly hit all over the snowbound Kashmir Valley but there was some respite after several days of intermittent snowfall Monday when the sun reappeared in the sky.

    Officials said some 300 security personnel are trapped in the Jawahar Tunnel linking the Kashmir Valley and Jammu following avalanches.

    The men are from the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, Border Roads Organization and local police.

    They took shelter in the 2.5-km tunnel, the only road link between the valley and Jammu, after massive avalanches blocked either sides of it.

    "They have moved into the tunnel to escape avalanches," an officer said. Normally, the men are posted in barracks outside. German engineers built the tunnel in 1958.

    The relentless snow lashing the Kashmir Valley has damaged over1,000 houses. Srinagar has been without power for a fortnight. Enditem