At least 56 dead & dozens missing after Himalayan flash flooding sweeps through towns leaving them caked in mud
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AT least 56 people have been killed and dozens more are missing after flash floods tore through a remote Himalayan village in Indian-controlled Kashmir.
Officials said sudden, torrential rains triggered the disaster in Chasoti, Jammu and Kashmir – the last vehicle-accessible stop on the popular pilgrimage route to the Machail Mata temple.
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A building damaged in flash floods caused by torrential rains in Indian controlled Kashmir
Credit: AP
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People evacuate a village following a deadly heavy rain in Kishtwar
Credit: Reuters
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An injured person is being carried on a stretcher to a hospital from the site of a flashflood at a village in Kishtwar district
Credit: AFP
The flood struck around 11.30am local time on Thursday, destroying the main community kitchen where more than 200 pilgrims were gathered for lunch, as well as a security post, cars, and motorbikes.
'A large number of pilgrims had gathered for lunch and they were washed away,' one official told Reuters.
Initial estimates suggest at least 80 people remain missing, with more feared trapped under debris, Sky News reports.
Rescue teams have brought around 200 people to safety, but at least 50 of them are badly injured and receiving treatment in local hospitals.
'Army, air force teams have also been activated. Search and rescue operations are underway,' said Ramesh Kumar, the divisional commissioner of Kishtwar district.
Local resident Abdul Majeed Bichoo, 75, said he saw the bodies of eight people being pulled from the mud.
Chasoti, he said, had become a 'sight of complete devastation from all sides.'
He added: 'It was heartbreaking and an unbearable sight. I have not seen this kind of destruction of life and property in my life.'
Footage showed terrified pilgrims wading through rising water as it surged through the village.
The pilgrimage, which began in July and was due to end on 5 September, has now been suspended.
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Homes and cars were all swept away by the muddy waters
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At least 80 people are still reported missing
India's deputy science and technology minister Jitendra Singh confirmed the flooding was caused by a cloudburst – a sudden downpour of more than 100mm of rain in an hour – which is becoming increasingly common in the Himalayas.
Omar Abdullah, chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, said on X: 'The news is grim and accurate, verified information from the area hit by the cloudburst is slow in arriving.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said 'the situation is being monitored closely' and offered his prayers to 'all those affected by the cloudburst and flooding.'
The tragedy comes just over a week after a similar deluge wiped out an entire village in India's Uttarakhand state.
Meanwhile in China, record-breaking floods have killed at least 38 people and forced more than 80,000 from their homes.
Torrential downpours battered swathes of northern China late July, including the capital Beijing, in what locals described as a 'once in a hundred years' deluge.
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Flash floods killed at least 56 and left dozens missing in Indian-controlled Kashmir
Credit: AP
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Rescuers inspect the site of a flashflood at a village in Kishtwar district
Credit: AFP
Dramatic footage showed streets transformed into raging rivers, murky floodwater swallowing homes, cars and highways, and uprooted trees piled high in devastated towns.
Beijing's Miyun district, northeast of the city centre, was the worst-hit, with spillways at the Miyun Reservoir roaring at their highest levels since its construction in 1959.
Nearby Huairou and Fangshan districts were also inundated, while more than 130 villages have lost power.
In the neighbouring city of Tianjin, over 10,000 people were evacuated, and in Hebei province a landslide killed eight people in a village near Chengde, with four still missing.
On social media, residents posted anxious messages about being unable to contact loved ones in the mountainous Xinglong county.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged officials to prepare for 'worst-case scenarios' and speed up the relocation of residents in danger zones.
The government has pledged 350 million yuan (£42m) for disaster relief in nine affected regions, plus a separate 200 million yuan for Beijing alone.
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