Kishtwar 14th August:- A powerful cloudburst hit the snow-bound and remote mountain village of Chositi in Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday, causing flash floods that claimed at least 38 lives, two of whom were personnel of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), with apprehensions about the number of fatalities rising further. It struck in the hour between 12 noon and 1 PM, swallowing the village—the last motorable settlement on the way to the sacred Machail Mata temple—under waves of water and debris.
As dusk descended, rescue teams in the form of local officials and disaster response personnel labored through the night, extracting survivors from the rubble, managing to rescue 167 people, although 38 are still in serious condition. The officials informed that the toll of fatalities increased gradually during the day as more bodies were pulled from the debris. The flash flood, which was caused by the sudden cloudburst, razed houses, vehicles, and infrastructure, destroying everything in its path.
Rescue teams were hindered with communication lines cut and roads clogged, making it difficult for them to operate. Authorities were worried that many more people might still be buried under the rubble or carried away in the waters.The district administration in Kishtwar has deployed emergency response teams, while the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Indian Army also joined the rescue and search Operation.Rescue operations have been conducted, with survivors being relocated to neighboring shelters and medical personnel administering emergency treatment to the injured.
