SRINAGAR: Flash floods triggered by torrential rains in a remote village in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) claimed at least 44 lives, with dozens more still missing, authorities reported on Thursday.
The disaster struck Chositi village following a sudden cloudburst, setting off devastating floods and landslides. According to disaster management official Mohammed Irshad, rescue teams have brought at least 200 people to safety, but around 50 individuals remain unaccounted for—many feared to have been swept away by the raging waters.
India’s deputy minister for science and technology, Jitendra Singh, warned that the disaster “could result in substantial” loss of life.
Susheel Kumar Sharma, a local official, said that at least 50 seriously injured people are being treated in local hospitals. Many were rescued from a stream filled with mud and debris.
Chositi, a remote Himalayan village in Kishtwar district, is the last point accessible by vehicles along the route of an ongoing annual Hindu pilgrimage to a mountain shrine located at an altitude of 3,000 meters (9,500 feet), about an 8-kilometer (5-mile) trek from the village.
Several pilgrims are also feared to have been affected by the flash floods and landslides. Authorities have suspended the pilgrimage, which began on July 25 and was scheduled to conclude on September 5. Additional rescue teams are being deployed to reinforce ongoing relief and rescue efforts.
According to officials, local villagers and authorities were the first to respond to the disaster. They were soon joined by police, disaster response teams, and personnel from India’s military and paramilitary forces, said Sharma.
Abdul Majeed Bichoo, a local resident and a social activist from a neighboring village, said that he witnessed the bodies of eight people being pulled out from under the mud. Three horses, which were also completely buried alongside them under debris, were “miraculously recovered alive,” he said.
Officials reported that the devastating flash floods swept away the main community kitchen set up for pilgrims, along with dozens of vehicles and motorbikes. At the time of the disaster, more than 200 pilgrims were present at the kitchen.
The floods also caused severe damage to the village, washing away numerous homes clustered along the foothills.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated that the situation is being “closely monitored” and extended his prayers to all those affected by the cloudburst and ensuing floods.
“Rescue and relief operations are underway. Every possible assistance will be provided to those in need,” he said in a social media post.
According to experts, cloudbursts have increased in recent years due to climate change, while damage from the storms also has increased because of unplanned development in mountain regions.
