Rescue ops enter day 6 in J&K, death toll rises to 64

The death toll from the devastating cloudburst that struck Chisoti village in Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar district has risen to 64 after the recovery of a woman's decomposed body from downstream areas, officials said on Tuesday.

- AJAY JANDYAL

The massive rescue and relief operation, now in its sixth day, continues across multiple locations with the support of heavy machinery, sniffer dogs and specialised rescue teams.

Officials confirmed that a lower body part of another victim was retrieved from the debris of a collapsed house. It is believed to belong to a person whose body had already been recovered on the first day of the disaster.

The August 14 cloudburst triggered massive flash floods that wreaked havoc in Chisoti, the last motorable village en route to the revered Machail Mata shrine. A langar site, makeshift markets, 16 houses, three temples, government buildings, water mills, a 30-metre bridge and more than a dozen vehicles were flattened in the deluge.