SRINAGAR: Two days after a devastating cloudburst struck Chisoti village in J&K’s Kishtwar district, survivors recall horror as families of the missing are clinging to fading hope. “Within a few seconds everything was destroyed. We did not get the chance to move two steps back. My son and my brother’s family are missing,” said Sham Lal Sharma undergoing treatment in a Jammu hospital.Sharma said he and his family members were sitting in a langar when the flash flood triggered by the cloudburst hit Chisoti along the route of the Machail Mata Yatra. “I urge administration to help in tracing my family members,” he said.Rescue teams continue searching the debris and muck for survivors. About 60 bodies have been recovered and over 160 people rescued. Dozens are still trapped in the debris.A family from Punjab’s Jalandar, which had come for Mata Machail Yatra, is now searching for their two missing daughters. “Our two daughters Vanishka and Disha, aged between 20 and 22 years, are missing. We don’t know whether they had crossed the bridge or not. There is no trace of them,” said their father.Suresh Kumar of J&K’s Samba had come for the yatra along with his wife, two daughters, son and sister-in-law’s family. “We had gone to take food in the langar when the tragedy struck. Within 25-30 seconds, all those present at langar camp were washed away,” he said.According to eyewitnesses, about 300-500 people were present in the langar camp when the flash flood and mudslide triggered by cloudburst hit the village. CM Omar Abdullah visited the cloudburst-hit village on Saturday, announcing Rs 2 lakh for the kin of those who died and Rs 1 lakh for the injured.
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