Sudden, heavy rain in Indian Kashmir leaves 34 dead, more than 200 missing
The incident occurred in the town of Chashoti in Kishtwar district, a stopover point on a popular pilgrimage route. It comes a little over a week after a heavy flood and mudslide engulfed an entire village in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand.
The flood washed away a community kitchen and a security post in the village, a pit stop along the pilgrimage route to the Machail Mata temple, said one official.
'A large number of pilgrims had gathered for lunch and they were washed away,' the official said.
The Machail Yatra trail is a popular route up to the high-altitude Himalayan shrine of Machail Mata, which honours the Hindu goddess Durga, and pilgrims trek to the temple from Chashoti, where the road for vehicles ends.
'The news is grim and accurate, verified information from the area hit by the cloudburst is slow in arriving,' said Omar Abdullah, the chief minister of India's federal territory of Jammu and Kashmir, in a post on X.
Television footage showed pilgrims crying in fear as water flooded the village.
The disaster occurred at 11.30am local time, Ramesh Kumar, the divisional commissioner of Kishtwar district, told the news agency ANI, adding that local police and disaster response officials had reached the scene.
'Army, air force teams have also been activated. Search and rescue operations are under way,' Kumar said.
A cloudburst, according to the Indian Meteorological Department, is a sudden, intense downpour of more than 100mm (4in) of rain in just one hour that can trigger sudden floods, landslides and devastation, especially in mountainous regions during the monsoon.
The local weather office in Srinagar predicted intense showers for several regions in Kashmir on Thursday, including Kishtwar, asking residents to stay away from loose structures, electric poles and old trees as there was a possibility of mudslides and flash floods.
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Reuters
19 minutes ago
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Sudden, heavy rain in Indian Kashmir leaves 46 dead, more than 200 missing
SRINAGAR, India, Aug 14 (Reuters) - At least 46 people died and more than 200 were missing following sudden, heavy rain in Indian Kashmir, officials said on Thursday, the second such disaster in the Himalayas in a little over a week. The incident occurred in Chasoti town of Kishtwar district, a stopover point on a popular pilgrimage route. It comes a little over a week after a heavy flood and mudslide engulfed an entire village in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand. The flood washed away a community kitchen and a security post set up in the village, a pit stop along the pilgrimage route to the Machail Mata temple, said one of the officials, who declined to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the media about the incident. "A large number of pilgrims had gathered for lunch and they were washed away," the official said. The Machail yatra is a popular pilgrimage to the high altitude Himalayan shrine of Machail Mata, one of the manifestations of Goddess Durga, and pilgrims trek to the temple from Chasoti, where the road for vehicles ends. "The news is grim and accurate, verified information from the area hit by the cloudburst is slow in arriving," Omar Abdullah, the chief minister of India's federal territory of Jammu and Kashmir, said in a post on X. Television footage showed pilgrims crying in fear as water flooded the village. The disaster occurred at 11.30 am local time, Ramesh Kumar, the divisional commissioner of Kishtwar district, told news agency ANI, adding that local police and disaster response officials had reached the scene. "Army, air force teams have also been activated. Search and rescue operations are underway," Kumar said. A cloudburst, according to the Indian Meteorological Department, is a sudden, intense downpour of over 100 mm (4 inches) of rain in just one hour that can trigger sudden floods, landslides, and devastation, especially in mountainous regions during the monsoon. The local weather office in Srinagar predicted intense showers for several regions in Kashmir on Thursday, including Kishtwar, asking residents to stay away from loose structures, electric poles and old trees as there was a possibility of mudslides and flash floods.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Flash flood in Indian Kashmir leaves dozens dead and at least 200 missing
At least 37 people have died and more than 200 are missing after a sudden rainstorm in Indian Kashmir, the second such disaster in the Himalayas in a little over a week. The incident in the town of Chashoti, Kishtwar district, occurred at a stopover point on a pilgrimage route. Days earlier, a flood and mudslide engulfed a village in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand. The flood washed away a community kitchen and a security post in the village, a pit stop along the pilgrimage route to the Machail Mata temple, according to an official. 'A large number of pilgrims had gathered for lunch and they were washed away,' they said. The Machail Yatra trail is a popular route up to the high-altitude Himalayan shrine of Machail Mata, which honours the Hindu goddess Durga, and pilgrims trek to the temple from Chashoti, where the road for vehicles ends. 'The news is grim and accurate, verified information from the area hit by the cloudburst is slow in arriving,' said Omar Abdullah, the chief minister of India's federal territory of Jammu and Kashmir, in a post on X. Television footage showed pilgrims crying as water flooded the village. The disaster occurred at 11.30am local time, Ramesh Kumar, the divisional commissioner of Kishtwar district, told ANI news agency, adding that local police and disaster response officials had reached the scene. 'Army air force teams have also been activated. Search and rescue operations are under way,' Kumar said. A cloudburst, according to the Indian Meteorological Department, is a sudden, intense downpour of more than 100mm (4in) of rain in just one hour that can trigger sudden floods, landslides and devastation, especially in mountainous regions during the monsoon. The local weather office in Srinagar predicted intense showers for several regions in Kashmir on Thursday, including Kishtwar. It urged residents to stay away from loose structures, electric poles and old trees as there was a possibility of mudslides and flash floods.
Sky News
an hour ago
- Sky News
At least 44 dead and dozens missing after flash flooding in Indian Himalayas
At least 44 people have been killed after flash flooding hit a remote, mountainous village in Indian-controlled Kashmir. Initial estimates suggest at least 50 people are still missing in the devastated Himalayan village of Chasoti, in the Jammu and Kashmir region, according to local officials. Rescue teams have brought 200 people to safety, they added. Chasoti, around 85 miles (136km) northeast of Jammu, is the last village accessible to vehicles on the route of an annual Hindu pilgrimage to a mountainous shrine, the Machail Mata temple. The devastating floods swept away the main community kitchen, where more than 200 pilgrims were gathered, as well as dozens of vehicles and motorbikes, officials said. Abdul Majeed Bichoo, a local resident from a neighbouring village, said he witnessed the bodies of eight people being pulled out from under the mud. The 75-year-old said Chasoti had become a "sight of complete devastation from all sides". "It was heartbreaking and an unbearable sight," he continued. "I have not seen this kind of destruction of life and property in my life." India's deputy minister for science and technology, Jitendra Singh, said the floods were triggered by torrential rains. Sudden, intense downpours over small areas - known as cloudbursts - are increasingly common in India's Himalayan regions, which are prone to flash floods and landslides. Last week, floodwater crashed through an entire Himalayan village in India's Uttarakhand state. 1:24 Television footage showed pilgrims in Chasoti crying in fear as water flooded the village. At least 50 of the rescued people were badly injured and were being treated in local hospitals, local official Susheel Kumar Sharma said. Officials said the Hindu pilgrimage, which began in July and was scheduled to end on 5 September, has been suspended. More rescue teams were on the way to the area, they added. Ramesh Kumar, the divisional commissioner of Kishtwar district, told news agency ANI that local police and disaster response officials had reached the scene. "Army, air force teams have also been activated. Search and rescue operations are underway," Mr Kumar said. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said "the situation is being monitored closely" and offered his prayers to "all those affected by the cloudburst and flooding." Cloudbursts can cause intense flooding and landslides, and have increased in recent years, partly due to climate change. Damage from the storms has also been exacerbated by unplanned development in mountain regions.
