At least 38 people have died after flash floods hit a village hosting Hindu pilgrims in Indian-administered Kashmir.
The disaster took place in the remote village of Chositi in Kishtwar district, which is on a busy pilgrimage route to a famous shrine in the Himalayas.
Videos shared online showed dramatic flood waters, vehicles being washed away and rescuers searching for survivors in damaged homes, as people cried in the streets - some caked in mud.
Dozens of pilgrims have been evacuated to safety, but at least 50 people are feared missing, and a rescue operation is still underway.
The floods were triggered by a cloudburst, officials said, with Federal Minister Jitendra Singh, who is also an MP from Jammu and Kashmir, saying it was on a “massive scale” and rescue teams were finding it difficult to reach the site.
A road had been washed away, he said, and the weather was not safe enough for helicopters.
He expects the incident to result in a substantial number of casualties. A resident of nearby Atholi village told news agency AFP he saw “at least 15 dead bodies” being brought into the local hospital.
A large community kitchen where visiting pilgrims were eating lunch was completely washed away, an official told Reuters news agency.
The region’s Chief Minister Omar Abdullah described the disaster as a “tragedy”, announcing he was cancelling some of the cultural activities which had been planned for the Friday’s Indian Independence Day celebrations.
The news was “grim”, he said, with accurate, verified information from the area “slow in arriving”, but all available resources were being mobilised to manage the rescue operations.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said “every possible assistance” would be available to those who need it.
India’s northern region has seen very heavy rainfall in recent days, triggering flash floods in several areas.
Last week, nearly half of the village of Dharali, in Uttarakhand state, was submerged after it was hit by a massive flash flood. On Tuesday, officials said that 66 people were still missing and only one body had been recovered.
Source: BBC
- Agencies
