Death toll in Kashmir flash floods rises to at least 32, Indian officials say

At least 32 people are dead in flash floods caused by torrential rains in a remote, mountainous village in Indian-controlled Kashmir, a top disaster management official said Thursday.

Mohammed Irshad said rescue teams scouring the devastated Himalayan village of Chositi brought at least 100 people to safety. He said initial estimations suggested at least 50 others were still missing.

India’s deputy minister for science and technology, Jitendra Singh, said the floods were triggered by a cloudburst in Jammu and Kashmir’s Chositi area and “could result in substantial casualty.”

Chositi is a remote Himalayan village in Kashmir’s Kishtwar district and is the the last village accessible to motor vehicles on the route of an annual Hindu pilgrimage to a mountainous shrine. Multiple pilgrims are also feared to be affected by the disaster. Officials said the pilgrimage has been suspended and more rescue teams were on the way to the area.