Jammu and Kashmir cloudburst: 60 dead, 75 missing as flood hits Chasoti in Kishtwar

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Saturday reached Chasoti village in Kishtwar to review the devastation caused by flash floods triggered by a cloudburst that has left 60 people dead and more than 100 injured. Families have reported 75 people missing, while locals fear the toll could be much higher, with many possibly swept away and buried under boulders, logs, and rubble.

Abdullah, who arrived in Kishtwar on Friday evening, travelled by road to Chasoti early Saturday, accompanied by his political advisor Nasir Aslam Wani. At the site, a senior army officer supervising the rescue efforts briefed him on the coordinated relief operation. Officials also provided the chief minister with a virtual reality headset to help assess the scale of destruction.

The flash flood struck Chasoti, the last motorable village on the route to the Machail Mata temple, at around 12:25 pm on August 14. It flattened a makeshift market, a community kitchen for pilgrims, and a security outpost. At least 16 houses and government buildings, three temples, four water mills, a 30-metre bridge, and more than a dozen vehicles were destroyed.

The annual Machail Mata Yatra, which began on July 25 and was scheduled to run until September 5, remained suspended for the third straight day on Saturday. The trek to the 9,500-foot-high shrine starts from Chasoti, about 90 kilometres from Kishtwar town.

(With PTI inputs)