Kishtwar cloudburst: Search continues as families look for missing loved ones

KISHTWAR (Jammu and Kashmir): Search operations continue in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar district, for those missing after a cloudburst hit Chasoti village, which claimed 61 lives.

Ravi Kumar, who came from Jammu, said he is searching for his sister and other family members after losing his elder sister in the disaster. He added that he has contacted the GMC in Jammu and the Kishtwar administration for updates on the ongoing search operation.

#WATCH | J&K | Relative of missing people after the Chasoti cloudburst incident, Ravi Kumar says, “I have come from Jammu to find my family members missing after the incident… My sister, her children, her mother-in-law and sister-in-law… My elder sister died in the Kishtwar… https://t.co/GbOFQqY03A pic.twitter.com/9aZcVmELIo

— ANI (@ANI) August 20, 2025

Ravi Kumar said, “I have come from Jammu to find my family members missing after the incident… My sister, her children, her mother-in-law and sister-in-law… My elder sister died in the Kishtwar cloud burst incident… We talked to the GMC in Jammu and talked to the Kishtwar administration as well for an update on the search for our relatives during the search operation…”

Teams from NDRF, SDRF, Jammu and Kashmir Police, CISF, Indian Army, and the local administration are working on the seventh day of the rescue operation.

On Tuesday, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said that it might be impossible to find anyone alive in the Kishtwar incident, stating that the disaster took place due to a cloudburst rather than a breach of glacial lakes.

“Finding the missing persons alive now looks nearly impossible. In these circumstances, we will try to retrieve as many bodies and hand them over to their loved ones. According to the information we have received so far, the disaster that happened in Kishtwar was due to a cloudburst and not a glacial lake breach”, Omar Abdullah told reporters.

The cloudburst, which occurred during the Machail Mata Yatra on August 14, led to devastating flash floods, leaving around 55 people dead in Kishtwar. Security forces have since intensified relief and rescue efforts in the affected region. (ANI)