Kishtwar cloudburst: Rescuers frantically search for survivors; death toll climbs to 60

Kishtwar/Jammu, Aug 15: Braving intermittent rains, rescuers intensified their search for survivors in a cloudburst-hit village in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar district on Friday, even as Chief minister Omar Abdullah put the death toll in the tragic incident at 60, with an unspecified number of people still trapped.Disaster struck Chisoti, the last motorable village on the way to the Machail Mata temple, around 12:25 pm on Thursday, leaving a trail of death and destruction. Rescuers pulled out 46 bodies, including that of two Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel, on Thursday. In addition, 167 people have been rescued in an injured condition, while 69 others were reported missing by their relatives.Thirty bodies have been identified and handed over to the victims’ families.Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke with Abdullah and Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Friday and assured them of all help.large number of people had gathered in Chisoti for the annual Machail Mata pilgrimage that began on July 25 and was scheduled to end on September 5. The 8.5-km trek to the 9,500-foot shrine begins from Chisoti, which is located about 90 km from Kishtwar town. The yatra remained suspended for a second day on Friday.The deluge flattened a makeshift market, a langar (community kitchen) site for the pilgrimage and a security outpost, besides damaging 16 residential houses and government buildings, three temples, four water mills, a 30-metre span bridge and more than a dozen vehicles.