46 killed after torrential rains trigger flash floods in India's Kashmir
Srinagar, Kashmir
At least 46 people have been killed after a sudden cloudburst unleashed torrential rain in Indian-administered Kashmir, a disaster management official said, marking the second major disaster in the Himalayas in just over a week.
The deluge struck Chisoti, a town in Kishtwar district, on Thursday morning. The site serves as a key stop along the pilgrimage route to the Machail Mata temple, a revered Himalayan shrine dedicated to Goddess Durga. Television footage showed terrified pilgrims crying as water surged through the settlement.
Omar Abdullah, chief minister of the federal territory of Jammu and Kashmir, described the situation as 'grim' and said confirmed details were slow to emerge from the remote location.
Mohammed Irshad said 150 wounded people were rescued from the disaster site, '50 of whom are severely injured'. All were sent to nearby hospitals.
'Death toll has increased to 46,' said Irshad, a top disaster management official, adding 'some people are missing but we can't say how many.'
Sushil Kumar, a resident of the nearby Atholi village, told the AFP news agency: 'I saw at least 15 dead bodies brought to the local hospital.' Pankaj Kumar Sharma, district commissioner of Kishtwar, said earlier that 'there are chances of more dead bodies being found'.
According to Ramesh Kumar, divisional commissioner of Kishtwar, the cloudburst hit at about 11:30am local time. He told ANI news agency that police and disaster response teams were on the ground, while army and air force units had also been mobilised. 'Search and rescue operations are under way,' Kumar said.
An official, who asked not to be named as they were not authorised to speak to the media, said the flood swept away a community kitchen and a security post set up to serve pilgrims. 'A large number of pilgrims had gathered for lunch and they were washed away,' the official told the news agency Reuters.
The India Meteorological Department defines a cloudburst as a sudden, extreme downpour exceeding 100mm of rain in an hour, often triggering flash floods and landslides in mountainous regions during the monsoon.
Last week, a similar disaster in Uttarakhand, another Himalayan state, buried an entire village under mud and debris after heavy rains. The Srinagar weather office has warned of further intense rainfall in several parts of Kashmir, including Kishtwar, and urged residents to avoid unstable structures, power lines and old trees due to the risk of fresh landslides and flash floods.
'Every possible assistance will be provided to those in need,' Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Qatar Tribune
a day ago
- Qatar Tribune
46 killed after torrential rains trigger flash floods in India's Kashmir
agencies Srinagar, Kashmir At least 46 people have been killed after a sudden cloudburst unleashed torrential rain in Indian-administered Kashmir, a disaster management official said, marking the second major disaster in the Himalayas in just over a week. The deluge struck Chisoti, a town in Kishtwar district, on Thursday morning. The site serves as a key stop along the pilgrimage route to the Machail Mata temple, a revered Himalayan shrine dedicated to Goddess Durga. Television footage showed terrified pilgrims crying as water surged through the settlement. Omar Abdullah, chief minister of the federal territory of Jammu and Kashmir, described the situation as 'grim' and said confirmed details were slow to emerge from the remote location. Mohammed Irshad said 150 wounded people were rescued from the disaster site, '50 of whom are severely injured'. All were sent to nearby hospitals. 'Death toll has increased to 46,' said Irshad, a top disaster management official, adding 'some people are missing but we can't say how many.' Sushil Kumar, a resident of the nearby Atholi village, told the AFP news agency: 'I saw at least 15 dead bodies brought to the local hospital.' Pankaj Kumar Sharma, district commissioner of Kishtwar, said earlier that 'there are chances of more dead bodies being found'. According to Ramesh Kumar, divisional commissioner of Kishtwar, the cloudburst hit at about 11:30am local time. He told ANI news agency that police and disaster response teams were on the ground, while army and air force units had also been mobilised. 'Search and rescue operations are under way,' Kumar said. An official, who asked not to be named as they were not authorised to speak to the media, said the flood swept away a community kitchen and a security post set up to serve pilgrims. 'A large number of pilgrims had gathered for lunch and they were washed away,' the official told the news agency Reuters. The India Meteorological Department defines a cloudburst as a sudden, extreme downpour exceeding 100mm of rain in an hour, often triggering flash floods and landslides in mountainous regions during the monsoon. Last week, a similar disaster in Uttarakhand, another Himalayan state, buried an entire village under mud and debris after heavy rains. The Srinagar weather office has warned of further intense rainfall in several parts of Kashmir, including Kishtwar, and urged residents to avoid unstable structures, power lines and old trees due to the risk of fresh landslides and flash floods. 'Every possible assistance will be provided to those in need,' Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.
Al Jazeera
a day ago
- Al Jazeera
At least 37 killed after torrential rains trigger flash floods in Kashmir
At least 37 people have been killed after a sudden cloudburst unleashed torrential rain in Indian-administered Kashmir, a disaster management official said, marking the second major disaster in the Himalayas in just over a week. The deluge struck Chisoti, a town in Kishtwar district, on Thursday morning. The site serves as a key stop along the pilgrimage route to the Machail Mata temple, a revered Himalayan shrine dedicated to Goddess Durga. Television footage showed terrified pilgrims crying as water surged through the settlement. Omar Abdullah, chief minister of the federal territory of Jammu and Kashmir, described the situation as 'grim' and said confirmed details were slow to emerge from the remote location. Mohammed Irshad said rescue teams scouring the devastated Himalayan village of Chositi brought at least 100 people to safety. 'Dead bodies of 37 people have been recovered,' said Irshad, a top disaster management official, adding there was no count of any missing people available. According to Ramesh Kumar, divisional commissioner of Kishtwar, the cloudburst hit at about 11:30am local time. He told ANI news agency that police and disaster response teams were on the ground, while army and air force units had also been mobilised. 'Search and rescue operations are under way,' Kumar said. An official, who asked not to be named as they were not authorised to speak to the media, said the flood swept away a community kitchen and a security post set up to serve pilgrims. 'A large number of pilgrims had gathered for lunch and they were washed away,' the official told the news agency Reuters. The India Meteorological Department defines a cloudburst as a sudden, extreme downpour exceeding 100mm of rain in an hour, often triggering flash floods and landslides in mountainous regions during the monsoon. Last week, a similar disaster in Uttarakhand, another Himalayan state, buried an entire village under mud and debris after heavy rains. The Srinagar weather office has warned of further intense rainfall in several parts of Kashmir, including Kishtwar, and urged residents to avoid unstable structures, power lines and old trees due to the risk of fresh landslides and flash floods.
Qatar Tribune
4 days ago
- Qatar Tribune
Flood sweeps 7 people to theirs deaths in Pakistan
Islamabad: At least seven people were swept to their deaths by rushing floodwaters in northern Pakistan on Monday, official said, in another disaster striking the Himalayan region amid the escalating impacts of climate change. The victims were volunteers working to restore a water channel in a mountainous valley in the Gilgit-Baltistan region when raging floods hit after a glacial lake burst, local rescue official Tahir Shah told DPA. At least six others were injured and are receiving treatment in hospital, he added. The floods blocked a highway linking Pakistan to neighbouring China and cut off several mountain villages from supply routes, according to another official, Islam Uddin. Rescue teams are trying to reach thousands of people stranded in remote hamlets where the Karakoram and Himalayan mountain ranges converge, said Haroon Gull from the disaster agency. Since late June, floods and erratic monsoon rains have claimed 312 lives across Pakistan. In the same region last month, at least 20 people, most of them tourists, were swept away by floodwaters, regional government spokesman Faizullah Faraq said. (DPA)
