• Source:JND
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Jammu-Kashmir Cloudburst:  At least 60 people were killed and over 100 were injured in a tragic flash flood on the Machail Yatra route at Chasoti village in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar district on Thursday afternoon. Soon after the incident, the administration deployed 300 troops, medical teams to the disaster-hit Chasoti for relief and rescue work. The incident left many, especially pilgrims, trapped under the debris. Rescue teams fear that the death toll will rise as several people are still missing. 

The cloudburst struck Chasoti village between 12 noon and 1 PM, when hundreds of pilgrims gathered in the village for the annual Machail Yatra, which began on August 25 and is scheduled to conclude on September 5. The flash floods swept away several infrastructures, including shops, a security outpost, and a community kitchen with devotees.

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Jammu-Kashmir Cloudburst Updates

- "60 dead, over 100 injured in cloudburst in Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir," news agency PTI reported Chief Minister Omar Abdullah as saying.

- A cloudburst struck Chosti around 12.25 PM on Thursday, leaving 46 people, including two CISF personnel, dead. Hundreds of pilgrims gathered at Chasoti village for the annual Machail Yatra on Thursday. The 8.5 km trek to the 9,500-feet shrine begins from Chositi, which is about 90 km from Kishtwar town.

- The rescue and relief operations resumed early Friday after a night-long pause to look for survivors feared trapped under rubble and mud in the cloudburst-hit village.

- Keeping in mind the safety of pilgrims, the administration has temporarily halted the movement of pilgrims for the second day on Friday, following the cloudburst.

- Several earth-movers requisitioned by the district administration have joined the operation to move giant boulders, uprooted trees, and electricity poles to speed up the rescue and relief operation, the officials said.

- So far, 167 people have been rescued in injured condition, while 69 are reported missing by their relatives. At least 16 residential houses and government buildings, three temples, four water mills, and a 30-metre span bridge, besides over a dozen vehicles, were damaged in the flash floods in Chositi and downstream, the officials added.

- The fragile Himalayan slopes faced disaster just nine days after flash floods wreaked havoc in Dharali village of Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi district. Though only one person is confirmed dead, 68 people are still reported missing.

(With PTI Inputs)

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