Indian rescuers scour debris after 60 killed in flood

SRINAGAR (AFP) – Indian rescue teams on Friday dug through mud searching for victims, a day after the latest deadly flood to crash through a Himalayan village killed at least 60 people.

Dozens more are missing, including Hindu pilgrims who were visiting a shrine, after torrents of water and mud driven by intense rain tore through the village in Kishtwar district in Indian-administered Kashmir.

It is the second major deadly flooding disaster in India this month.

Officials said a large makeshift kitchen in Chisoti village, where more than 100 pilgrims were completely washed away by what Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah reported was a sudden "cloudburst" rain storm.

Heavy earthmovers were brought to the disaster area overnight to dig through deep mud, huge boulders and rubble that the flood brought down the mountainside.

The army's White Knight Corps said its troops, "braving the harsh weather and rugged terrain, are engaged in evacuation of injured".

"The news is grim," Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said in a statement, reporting a "cloudburst" of heavy rain that had hit the Kishtwar district.

Crowds gathered at a Kishtwar hospital while people carried some of the injured on stretchers.

Emergency kit including ropes and digging tools were being brought to the disaster site, with the army supporting other rescue teams.

One survivor told the Press Trust of India news agency that he had heard a "big blast" when the wall of water hit the settlement.

"We thought it was an earthquake", the shocked eyewitness said, who did not give his name.

Mohammad Irshad, a top disaster management official, told AFP on Friday that "60 people are recorded dead", with 80 people unaccounted for.

"The search for the missing has intensified", Irshad told AFP. Around 50 severely injured people have been taken to hospitals.

Local officials said the death from the devastating flood that damaged or washed away many homes was likely to rise.

Sushil Kumar, a resident of nearby Atholi village, told AFP: "I saw at least 15 dead bodies brought to the local hospital."

Pankaj Kumar Sharma, district commissioner of Kishtwar, said earlier that "there are chances of more dead bodies being found".

Pilgrims' kitchen washed away

Chisoti village, where the disaster hit, is on a Hindu pilgrimage route to Machail Mata shrine.

Officials said a large makeshift kitchen where there were more than 100 pilgrims – who were not registered with local authorities – was completely washed away.

Rescue teams were facing difficulty reaching the area and soldiers also joined the effort.

The region's weather department has issued an alert for more heavy rain and floods, asking residents to remain vigilant.

Roads had already been damaged by days of heavy storms. The area lies more than 200 kilometres (125 miles) by road from the region's main city Srinagar.

"Every possible assistance will be provided to those in need," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.

Floods on August 5 overwhelmed the Himalayan town of Dharali in India's Uttarakhand state and buried it in mud. The likely death toll from that disaster is more than 70 but has yet to be confirmed.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the spate of disasters in his Independence Day speech in New Delhi on Friday.

"In the past few days, we have been facing natural disasters, landslides, cloudbursts, and many other calamities", Modi said in his public address.

"Our sympathies are with the affected people. State governments and the central government are working together with full strength."

Floods and landslides are common during the monsoon season from June to September, but experts say climate change, coupled with poorly planned development, is increasing their frequency and severity.

The UN's World Meteorological Organisation said last year that increasingly intense floods and droughts are a "distress signal" of what is to come as climate change makes the planet's water cycle ever more unpredictable.