Srinagar, India ? Avalanches and extreme cold have killed at least 244 people in the divided Himalayan province of Kashmir, and about 150 others are missing on both sides, Indian and Pakistani officials said Tuesday.

Heavy snow has gripped the region since last week, temperatures have dropped to minus 34, and rescue workers are finding more bodies beneath the snow. Avalanches have closed roads throughout the region, cutting off Indian and Pakistani residents for the fifth straight day. Indians in one region were ordered to evacuate immediately.

In Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, officials said at least 58 people had been killed by the freezing weather during the past two weeks, mostly by avalanches. In India-controlled Kashmir, at least 186 people have died since Friday from the weather, and the Indian air force flew in food and fuel to the affected areas.

India’s top military commander in the Kashmir valley ordered people living in the Pir Panjal mountains, south of Srinagar, where most avalanches have occurred, to immediately evacuate.

The snow began falling in Indian Kashmir on Friday, and the avalanches began Sunday night. Between Friday and Sunday, 41 people were killed. By Monday, an additional 113 bodies were found. On Tuesday, an additional 32 were discovered.

In some areas, Indian army soldiers used explosives to trigger avalanches and pre-empt future slides, said Maj. Gen. Raj Mehta, India’s top military commander in the Kashmir valley. About a dozen villages were buried by slides in the Pir Panjal mountain range.

In Rang Munda, a village there, three people were killed Tuesday. At least 10 residents were missing from that village, Mehta said.

In two nearby villages, rescue workers found 15 bodies as they began clearing away the snow Tuesday, said Aashiq Bukhari, senior superintendent of police.

Police and soldiers found another 10 bodies Tuesday in the village of Ramsu, which was hit by an avalanche Sunday night, said a police officer in Jammu, the state’s other major city.

A houseboat damaged by snow is shown in Srinagar, India. Avalanches and severe cold have killed nearly 250 people in the Himalayan region, police and officials said.

At least 12 people were still missing in the village, which is about 60 miles south of Srinagar, the officer said on condition of anonymity.

In Srinagar, restaurant workers found the bodies of four colleagues who were asphyxiated after leaving a coal fire burning in their room to keep warm as they slept.

Weather officials expect the cold spell to continue for a few more days.