Third day of rescue operation in J&K's Kishtwar; 60 dead, over 100 injured (Ld)

Jammu, Aug 16 (IANS) Relief and rescue operations continued for the third day on Saturday in Jammu and Kashmir’s (J&K) Kishtwar district as so far 60 dead bodies were recovered and over 100 injured people were evacuated to hospitals for treatment. Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah reached Kishtwar on Friday evening and would be reaching the disaster site at Chashoti village today.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to J&K Lieutenant-Governor and the Chief Minister and assured all possible help.

The cloudburst disaster triggering flash floods caused such colossal damage after many years in J&K.

A coordinated rescue and relief operation continued for the third consecutive day on Saturday in Chashoti village where 60 people lost their lives and over 100 others were injured.

Union Minister Jitendra Singh, accompanied by Jammu and Kashmir DGP Nalin Prabhat, visited the devastated village late on Friday night and reviewed ongoing rescue and relief efforts carried out by the police, Army, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Border Roads Organisation (BRO), civil administration, and local volunteers operating in the high-altitude terrain.

So far, 46 bodies have been identified and handed over to their next of kin after completion of legal formalities.

Meanwhile, 75 people have been reported missing by their families, although locals and eyewitnesses claim that hundreds may have been swept away by flash floods and buried under giant boulders, logs, and rubble.

Among the deceased were two personnel of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and a Special Police Officer (SPO) of the local police, the officials added.

The disaster struck Chashoti the last motorable village en route to the Machail Mata temple — at approximately 12:25 P.M. on August 14.

It flattened a makeshift market, a community kitchen site for the Machail Mata Yatris and a security outpost.

At least 16 residential houses and government buildings, three temples, four water mills, a 30-metre-long bridge, and over a dozen vehicles were also damaged in the flash floods.

The annual Machail Mata yatra, which began on July 25 and was scheduled to conclude on September 5, remained suspended for the third consecutive day on Saturday.

The 8.5-kilometre trek to the 9,500 ft high shrine starts from Chashoti, located about 90 kilometres from Kishtwar town.

Rescue efforts were intensified with the deployment of nearly a dozen earth-movers by the civil administration and the use of specialised equipment and dog squads by the NDRF.

Dr. Jitendra Singh said on X after the visit to the disaster site, “After a long, tedious uphill drive, managed to reach the site of the cloudburst disaster in Kishtwar… very late, around midnight.”

In addition to SDRF, NDRF, home guards, local volunteers and J&K police, the Army has deployed over 300 personnel to augment the rescue exercise.

--IANS

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