A massive cloudburst struck a remote mountain village in Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar district on Thursday, killing at least 38 people including two CISF personnel, officials said.
The death toll could go up as more people are believed to be trapped, officials said, adding that 120 people have been rescued so far. Of these, the condition of 38 is said to be serious.
Immediately after the calamity struck Chositi on Thursday, Kishtwar Deputy Commissioner Pankaj Kumar Sharma, along with the senior superintendent of police, mobilised rescue teams and headed towards the spot to personally supervise the operations.
The UT administration has set up a control room-cum-help desk to assist people and pilgrims following flash floods triggered by a cloudburst. The relief and rescue operations are currently underway.
The numbers provided are: 9858223125, 6006701934, 9797504078, 8492886895, 8493801381, and 7006463710. Besides these, the district control room numbers are 01995-259555 and 9484217492, and the police control room number of Kishtwar is 9906154100.
While a large-scale rescue operation was already launched by NDRF, SDRF, police, Army and local volunteers, the authorities have mobilised more rescuers, including two fresh teams of NDRF from Jammu to to speed up the rescue efforts, officials said.
Army's White Knight Corps said efforts are on to safeguard lives and aid the survivors.
"In the aftermath of a cloudburst at Chisoti (Chositi) village, Kishtwar, troops of White Knight Corps swiftly mobilised for rescue and relief ops (operations). Efforts are centred on safeguarding lives and aiding survivors. Search for missing continues. Relief stores, medical teams and rescue gear rushed to site. We Serve, We Protect,” the corps said in an X post.
