Kishtwar flash floods: J&K CM Omar Abdullah reaches Chisoti, IAF's Mi-17 on standby; death toll 60 | 10 points
Kishtwar flash floods swept away a makeshift market, a security outpost, 16 houses, government buildings, 3 temples, a 30m bridge, and over a dozen vehicles.
Rescue and relief operations entered their third day on Saturday in Chisoti village of Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar district, where a massive cloudburst killed at least 60 people and left over 100 injured and many others missing.
Rescue operations were ramped up with nearly a dozen earthmovers deployed by the civil administration, alongside specialised equipment and dog squads from the NDRF.
So far, 46 bodies have been identified and handed over to families after legal formalities. Meanwhile, 75 people remain missing, although locals and eyewitnesses claim hundreds may have been swept away by the flash floods and buried under boulders, logs, and debris, news agency PTI reported, citing officials.
Among the deceased were two Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel and a Special Police Officer (SPO) of the local police.
The disaster struck Chisoti, the last motorable village on the route to the Machail Mata temple, at around 12.25 pm on August 14.
Here are the latest details of the situation
- Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah visited the flood-hit Chisoti village on Saturday. He was briefed by Indian Army personnel and used a virtual reality headset to assess the extent of the damage caused by the cloudburst.
- The flash floods swept away a makeshift market, a community kitchen for the yatra, and a security outpost, along with 16 residential houses, government buildings, three temples, four water mills, a 30-meter bridge, and more than a dozen vehicles.
- The Indian Air Force has two Mi-17 helicopters and an Advanced Light Helicopter on standby at Jammu and Udhampur for relief and rescue operations, PTI reported, quoting sources.
- Union minister Jitendra Singh, along with Jammu and Kashmir DGP Nalin Prabhat, visited the devastated village late Friday night to review ongoing rescue and relief operations.
- The annual Machail Mata yatra, which began on July 25 and was scheduled to conclude on September 5, remained suspended for the third day. The 8.5-kilometre trek to the 9,500-foot-high shrine starts from Chisoti, about 90 km from Kishtwar town.
- Thirty-four bodies that were identified have been handed over to their families in Kishtwar, Jammu, Udhampur, and Doda, with most already cremated, PTI reported, quoting officials.
- Jammu and Kashmir minister Satish Sharma visited the homes of several victims, offered condolences, expressed grief, and assured families of government support and relief measures.
- Videos showed torrents of muddy water, silt, and debris rushing down steep slopes, destroying everything in their path. Houses collapsed, rocks tumbled onto roads, and the mudslide transformed the lush landscape into a grim brown-grey.
- Police and security forces have constructed a temporary log bridge over the stream to help pilgrims returning from the shrine reach their destinations.
- Local BJP MLA and Leader of Opposition Sunil Sharma said hundreds are believed to be trapped under debris. He said around 15,000 were at the shrine during the cloudburst, with 4,000 already evacuated and the rest being cleared via a Bailey bridge built by the army.
