Chositi, Aug 15: Nine-year-old Devanshi was among the hundreds of pilgrims who had gathered here for the last leg of the yatra to Machail Mata temple when tragedy struck on Thursday. Buried under mud and debris when a Maggi-point shop was hit by flash floods, she emerged hours later, rescued by her uncle and other villagers.
“I couldn’t breathe. My uncle, bouji, and others removed wooden planks after hours, and we all came out. Mata saved us,” she says, the terror still vividly reflected in her voice.
Like her, 32-year-old Sneha is still in disbelief that she is alive. Moments after loading luggage onto their vehicle, she and her four family members were swept away in a roaring torrent, buried under mud and crushed beneath a vehicle.
“I was trapped in mud under a vehicle, surrounded by bodies – some of them children with broken necks and severed limbs. I lost hope of my survival,” she says. Somehow, they clawed their way out. At least 60 people lost their lives when a massive cloudburst led to flash floods in this remote mountain village in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar district.
Every survivor here carries a story about escaping from the very jaws of death.
“We stopped at a Maggi shop. People told us to run (because of the cloudburst), but we stayed back, thinking it was safe here,” Devanshi says, narrating her ordeal.
Within minutes, a large mass of mud collapsed over the shop. “Mata saved us,” she repeats as she recounts how her family members and villagers pulled her out of the debris.
She was taken to a hospital along with other family members, where she was given first aid.
Sneha from Jammu says she had felt it was all over for her after being washed away and buried under a vehicle. “As we reached our vehicles, we heard a loud bang and saw a cloudburst over the hill,” she recalled.
In no time, a wall of mud, boulders, and trees swept them towards the Chenab River, trapping them.
“My father managed to free himself first, then helped me out. I pulled my mother out from under an electric pole. She was barely conscious and badly injured,” she said.
She said some villagers were washed away into the Chenab. “Bodies lay everywhere. The entire hill had come down. Even the Thakur ji idol of Chittoo Mata Temple was washed away before our eyes.”
Sneha says the swift action of officials, police, the Army, CRPF, and locals saved countless lives. “Within an hour, vehicles arrived to take the injured to hospitals. If they had been late, many more would have died,” she said.
The sudden roar of water, the deafening blast, and the avalanche of mud, boulders, and trees turned Chositi village into a scene of unimaginable destruction within seconds. A cloudburst high above the hills triggered flash floods that swallowed homes, vehicles, and lives, leaving survivors in shock and grief.
The shocking scenes of physical and psychological trauma unfolded on a massive scale as search and rescue operations were underway, digging out mud-buried bodies and rescuing the injured.
Sudhir from Udhampur was with a group of 12 when the “sky and earth seemed to collapse together”.
“After the blast sound, the whole area was filled with fog and dust,” he recalled. “Most of my group members were trapped in slush. My wife and daughter were buried under other people. At the bridge construction site, I saw dozens swept into the Chenab. It took seconds for the hill to bury everything.”
Blood-stained bodies, mud-filled lungs, shattered ribs, and deep wounds packed with stones — these are just some of the harrowing injuries sustained by people, including pilgrims and security personnel, caught in the aftermath of the catastrophic cloudburst in the foothill hamlet of Chositi.
Undergoing treatment at the hospital, Sunita Devi from Nanak Nagar said, “I was running when I fell, and some women fell on me. An electric pole hit me and I got a severe shock. I was looking for my son the whole time. We all survived… Mata Rani saved us.”
Others were not so fortunate. Uma from Jammu clung to a vehicle tyre to avoid being swept away. “A policeman saved me. But my sister, Gahna Raina, is still missing,” she said.
Vaishali Sharma, who was in a 15-member group, said they ran into a shop for shelter when told about the cloudburst.
“It was around 12:15 PM when we neared the bridge. We were told to run and took shelter in a shop, but it caved in under mud and boulders. I was caught between the rocks. I don’t know where my parents are. Thanks to the Army, I and five others were rescued.”
Rescuers, including personnel from the Army, police and CRPF and villagers, continued to pull out survivors and retrieve bodies late into the night. Officials said the quick response helped prevent a higher death toll.
Additional Superintendent of Police Pradeep Singh said all forces were engaged in the massive search-and-rescue effort. “SDRF, Army, CRPF, CISF, Police — everyone is on the ground”.
He said that locals too played a huge role, especially over 20 bikers led by Ganga Ram, who ferried injured people from Chositi to Hamori as the road was cut off by the flooded nallah. “Without them, more lives would have been lost.”
“This has been a battle against death,” a rescue worker said.
