60 dead in Jammu and Kashmir flash floods; 500 people trapped in Machail Mata temple pilgrimage route

NEW DELHI: The death toll in the cloudburst and flash floods near the Machail Chandi Mata Temple in Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir has reached 60. More than 100 people have been injured, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said. He said that many people are trapped and rescue operations are ongoing. Most of the dead are pilgrims who had reached the Machail Mata temple.

Jammu and Kashmir Police, SDRF, NDRF, CRPF and Army are continuing the rescue operation. An air rescue operation will be initiated if the weather conditions are favourable.

It is suspected that around 500 people are trapped under the debris. Estimates are that there are over a thousand. Jammu and Kashmir BJP leader Sunil Sharma said that around 1200 people were in the area when the cloudburst occurred. So far, 167 people have been rescued. Of these, 38 are in critical condition. The bodies of two CISF jawans who were involved in the accident have been recovered, while two others are yet to be found. The CISF jawans who were deployed for pilgrim security were involved in the accident.

The entire area was washed away by a flash flood following a cloudburst in the Chositi area of Kishtwar on Thursday afternoon. Chositi is the starting point for the journey to the Himalayan temple of Machail Mata Chandi. Vehicle access is available only up to Chositi village. From here, one has to walk eight and a half kilometres to reach the temple on the hill. This road was also submerged in the flood. Many houses at the foot of the hill were washed away.