Floods and landslides in Indian Kashmir kill 60, over 200 missing
'We heard a huge sound and it was followed by a flash flood and slush. People were shouting, and some of them fell in the Chenab River. Others were buried under the debris,' said Rakesh Sharma, a pilgrim who was injured.
Bags, clothes and other belongings, caked in mud, lay scattered amid broken electric poles and mud on Friday, as rescue workers used ropes and crossed makeshift bridges in an attempt to extricate people from the debris.
At least 60 people were killed, more than 100 injured and another 200 still missing, Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah told reporters on Friday.
The Himalayas are prone to floods and landslides, but some scientists say the intensity and frequency of these events are increasing due to climate change.
The Machail Yatra is a popular pilgrimage to the high-altitude Himalayan shrine of Machail Mata, one of the manifestations of the Goddess Durga. Pilgrims trek to the temple from Chasoti, where the road for vehicles ends.
Thursday's incident comes a little over a week after a similar flood and mudslide engulfed an entire village in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand.
'Nature has been testing us. In the last few days, we have had to deal with landslides, cloudbursts and other natural calamities,' Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at the start of a nearly two-hour speech on the country's 79th independence day.
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.
In neighbouring Nepal, at least 41 people have died, 21 are missing and 121 injured in floods, heavy rains, landslides and hailstorms since early monsoon rains started in June this year, according to data provided by the country's disaster management authority.
And more than 50 people were killed overnight in rain-related incidents across the mountainous north of Pakistan, rescue officials said on Friday. Flooding and the collapse of the roofs of houses caused the deaths.
In Pakistan-administered Kashmir, where eight people were killed – including six members of a family buried in the debris of their home – evacuation operations were ongoing for stranded domestic tourists.
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Mourners carry the coffins of flood affected victims after flash floods in Naryean Behaak village some 36 kilometers north from Muzaffarabad. Image: Sajjad Qayyum / AFP Rescuers were struggling to retrieve bodies from debris after flash floods triggered by heavy monsoon rains across northern Pakistan killed at least 321 people in the past 48 hours, authorities said on Saturday. The majority of deaths, 307, were reported in mountainous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the Provincial Disaster Management Authority said. Most were killed in flash floods and collapsing houses, with the dead including 15 women and 13 children. At least 23 others were injured. The provincial rescue agency told AFP that around 2,000 rescue workers were engaged in recovering bodies from the debris and carrying out relief operations in nine affected districts where rain was still hampering efforts. People walk past scattered debris as floodwater flows near a damaged market following a flash flood in Mingora, the main city of Swat Valley. Image: Mehboob UL HAQ / AFP Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ "Heavy rainfall, landslides in several areas, and washed-out roads are causing significant challenges in delivering aid, particularly in transporting heavy machinery and ambulances," Bilal Ahmed Faizi, spokesman for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's rescue agency, told AFP. 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