At least 37 people have been confirmed dead and more than 150 injured after a devastating cloudburst struck Chisoti village in India’s northern Kashmir region, marking the second major deadly flooding disaster in the country this month.
Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah described the situation as “grim,” confirming the intense downpour had hit Kishtwar district, sweeping away structures and injuring scores. Crowds gathered at the district hospital as some of the wounded were carried in on stretchers.
Disaster management official Mohammad Irshad reported that 50 of the injured are in critical condition, all of whom have been transferred to nearby hospitals. Rescue efforts are ongoing, with authorities warning that the death toll may rise as more bodies could be found in the debris.
Chisoti village lies on a pilgrimage route to the Machail Mata shrine. Officials said a large makeshift kitchen sheltering more than 100 unregistered pilgrims was completely washed away by the floods. Access to the disaster zone has been hampered by damaged roads following days of relentless storms. Soldiers have joined rescue teams in their efforts to reach stranded survivors.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged “every possible assistance” to those affected, while the district commissioner, Pankaj Kumar Sharma, confirmed that search operations remain a priority.
This tragedy comes just over a week after floods swept away the Himalayan town of Dharali in Uttarakhand on August 5, leaving an estimated death toll of more than 70.
Floods and landslides are common during India’s June-to-September monsoon season, but experts warn that climate change, combined with unplanned development, is driving more frequent and severe disasters. The UN’s World Meteorological Organization has called such extreme events a “distress signal” of the planet’s increasingly unstable water cycle.