Kishtwar tragedy: A father searches for his daughter

A father, who was among the 167 persons rescued following a massive cloudburst at a remote village in Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar district on Thursday, is desperate to locate his 23-year-old daughter who remained untraced after the tragedy.

Bharat Bhushan and his daughter had gone to offer prayers at the revered Machail Mata shrine in the remote Padder sub-division when the tragedy struck.

"I only want to know about my daughter, Gehna Raina, who is missing," Bhushan said in a choked voice while being taken for necessary tests by volunteers after being admitted to the Kishtwar district hospital.

A massive cloudburst led to flash floods in Chositi village on Thursday, killing at least 46 people, including two Central Industrial Security Force personnel, and trapping many more.

As night fell over Chositi village, rescuers worked frantically and pulled out 167 people from under mounds of rubble. Of these, 38 are in a serious condition, officials said.

More than 50 persons were admitted to Kishtwar district hospital, many of whom were seen frantically looking for their near and dear ones who remained untracable.

"We were waiting for breakfast at the 'langar' site on the banks of a stream, when some people started shouting in panic, calling upon everyone to run for safety. Suddenly, there was a gush of water along with boulders and trees, which buried everything," Ganesh, a devotee, said, adding that he was lucky to survive as he was caught in between two big boulders.

"The langar site was packed with people -- some going for the pilgrimage and others on their way back from the shrine," he said, adding that it was anybody's guess as to how many people were trapped under the debris.

A police officer said 10 persons have approached the control room with complaints of their kin missing.

Vehicles lay piled up amid heaps of debris and uprooted trees brought down by the flash floods following the cloudburst, painting a scene of devastation, officials said.

They said the inclement weather did not allow helicopter operation for rescue missions or dropping of rescuers at the scene.

However, the district administration led by Deputy Commissioner Pankaj Kumar Sharma mobilised all the resources to speed up the rescue and relief operation.

Sharma, who reached the scene, was seen supervising the rescue operation, an official said.

Leader of Opposition in J-K Assembly, Sunil Sharma, who is also the local MLA, also rushed to the scene and met the injured along with party colleague and Kishtwar MLA Shagun Parihar.

The officials said the identities of the deceased are being ascertained, after which the bodies will be handed over to their family members on completion of legal formalities.