Suddenly, there was a sound like a bomb exploding, and everyone started shouting, “run, run”, said a woman named Shalu Mehra, describing the horror she faced being trapped beneath the debris after massive flash floods on the Machail Mata Yatra route at Chasoti village in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar on Thursday.
Not just Shalu, many survivors recalled their experience witnessing the flash floods that killed at least 60, mostly pilgrims.
While many deaths have been confirmed, the casualties are feared to go up, rescue teams have said. The flash floods hit when pilgrims were trekking to the Hindu shrine of Machail Mata.
Recounting how she was briefly trapped after the flash floods, Shalu Mehra told news agency ANI, “As I started to run, I got trapped in the debris, and an electricity pole fell on my head. After that, I called out to my daughter, and she pulled me out from there. She also said that after she pulled herself out, she started looking for her son, who was around 7 kms ahead of her.
Sanjay Kumar, 42, among the many devotees at Machail Chishoti Langar (community kitchen), also recounted the carnage, saying he never imagined something like this to happen.
Some pilgrims were having food while some had taken refuge inside it to protect themselves from rain.” Kumar said. “Suddenly, a flashflood carrying debris hit the community kitchen. Everyone was totally caught off guard and the deluge flattened everything that came in its way,” Kumar said, describing him surviving the disaster a “miracle”.
Kumar also recalled that the four vehicles from which around 15 pilgrims had come out moments before the disaster “toppled like toys and were swept away in the strong torrent of flash floods”. He has sustained fractures in both legs and is currently undergoing treatment.
The community kitchen’s head also spoke about the disaster, revealing that the flash floods struck when lunch was being served. Subhash Chander Gupta, the kitchen head, said that the floods approached carrying big boulders, trees and soil, taking everyone by surprise and not leaving them much time to escape.
“I heard screams all over followed by a deafening silence. I got stuck at the bottom of a big boulder and the mudslides passed over me,” he said. “I remained stuck with the boulder for over three hours.”
Flash floods hit Kishtwar’s Chasoti village (also spelt Chisoti) on Thursday afternoon when hundreds of devotees had gathered for the annual yatra. The final 8.5-km trek to the shrine begins from this village.
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