SRINAGAR: Powerful torrents driven by intense rain that smashed into a Himalayan mountain village in Indian-administered Kashmir killed at least 34 people on Thursday (Aug 14), a top local government official told AFP.
“We have found 34 dead bodies and rescued 35 injured people,” said Pankaj Kumar Sharma, district commissioner of Kishtwar. “There are chances of more dead bodies being found.”
An official in Kishtwar district, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, said initial reports “suggest around 50 people were washed away” in the flood.
AFP was unable to immediately verify the report.
The disaster 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, said the official, 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. Scores of people as of now are missing,” the official said.
A video clip shared by an eyewitness showed damaged houses hanging precariously beside what seemed to be a flow of mud and debris.
Rescue teams are likely to face difficulty reaching the area.
Roads had already been damaged by days of heavy storms. The area lies more than 200km from the region’s main city Srinagar.
“The news is grim,” Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said in a statement. “All possible resources are being mobilised”.
His office said he “expressed deep sorrow over the tragic cloudburst” in Kishtwar, and offered “condolences to the bereaved families”.
However, no official toll has been given yet.
SEARCH AND RESCUE
The disaster happened at 11.30am local time (2pm, Singapore time), 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,” said Ramesh Kumar.
India’s deputy minister for science and technology, Jitendra Singh, said the floods were triggered by a cloudburst in Jammu and Kashmir’s Chositi area and could result in “substantial” casualties.
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.
Cloudbursts have the potential to wreak havoc by causing intense flooding and landslides, impacting thousands of people in the mountainous regions.
Experts say cloudbursts have increased in recent years partly due to climate change, while damage from the storms also has increased because of unplanned development in mountain regions.