Nineteen missing persons in cloudburst incident at Honzar village in Dachhan area of Kishtwar district in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir are ‘feared dead’ as their relatives have left hopes of their survival, after over three days of rescue and search operation.
Meanwhile, the authorities in Kishtwar released the list of 19 missing persons after taking feedback from all affected families and villagers of the area.
Most of the shattered family members, have left any hope of the survival of their dear ones missing in the cloudburst incident of late Tuesday evening.
The villagers and relatives along with police and SDRF/ NDRF teams are searching for the missing people for the last over three days.
So far, only seven dead bodies have been recovered from the area and 17 injured could be rescued. The teams also walked along the banks of the Nallah, down-stream for 4-5 kms.
Those missing include Saja Begum, Khursheed Ahmed, Fida Hussain, Mohammad Sharif, Almina Tabassum, Mata Begum, Ghulam Mohammad, Fazal Hussain, Tariq Hussain, Zarina Begum, Mata Begum, Fatima Begum, Bashir Ahmed, Sharifa Begum, Shakir Hussain, Ghulam Ahmed, Zubaida Bano, and Khalid Ghani – all residents of Honzar village.
Meanwhile, Kishtwar authorities also sent two rescue teams to Chashoti in Paddar where about 150 Hindu pilgrims have been stuck due to another cloudburst and washing away of a bridge over Nal-lah there.
Due to landslides at Thandapani near Sunder-bani, the traffic on Jammu-Poonch highway re-mained suspended for more than four hours during morning hours today. A car also suffered minor damage in the incident but no loss of life was re-ported.
A Meteorological department official said the weather remained overcast with light rain at most places across IIOJK.
“Same conditions are most likely to continue throughout the day. A brief spell of heavy showers may occur at some places which may trigger flash flood, mudslide and landslide,” the official said, advising people to remain alert and move away from vulnerable places.—KMS