Chisoti, Jammu and Kashmir: Two more bodies were recovered from the debris in this cloudburst-hit village in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar district, taking the death toll in the natural calamity to 63, officials said, as a large-scale search continued for the fifth day on Monday despite intermittent rains.
Donning rain coats, the rescue teams were working at multiple locations, especially the major impact spot near a langar (community kitchen) site, sifting through the rubble using machinery, including earth movers, and sniffer dogs.
Two bodies, one of them of a woman, were recovered this afternoon, the officials said.
The woman's body was found downstream in a gorge near Kukundra village, while the other body was found buried near a temple.
With the recovery of the two bodies, the death toll in the flash floods triggered by the cloudburst on August 14 in Chisoti, the last motorable village en route to the Machail Mata temple, has risen to 63. The dead included three CISF personnel and one Special Police Officer.
A total of 167 people were rescued, while the number of missing has dropped to 39 after a fresh revision of the list this morning, the officials said.
Army’s Jammu-based White Knight Corps, in a post on X, said five relief columns of the force are engaged in the rescue and relief operations and efforts have been further intensified with additional medical teams deployed.