J&K cloudburst: Several victims cremated; NDRF deploys sniffer dogs

Jammu: Most of the 34 cloudburst victims, who were identified and handed over to their families, were cremated in their home towns across Jammu division on Friday, officials said.

A massive cloudburst triggered flash floods in remote Chasoti, the last motorable village on the way to the Machail Mata temple in Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar district, on Thursday, leaving 60 persons dead while 76 others were reported missing by their families.

Meanwhile, another team of NDRF with sniffer dogs also joined the rescue and relief operation at the cloudburst-hit village.

Thirty-four bodies have been identified and handed over to their families in Kishtwar, Jammu, Udhampur and Doda during the day and most of them have been cremated, the officials said.

Among them, eight victims from Chasoti village were consigned to flames by their relatives, while the last rites of a retired soldier identified as Vaneet Sharma was held at his native village, Chansari Mughal Maidan, they said.

The officials said the funeral of 23-year-old Gehna Raina, a resident of Bakshi Nagar locality of Jammu, was also performed by her family. Raina’s father Bharat Bhushan and her younger sister escaped with injuries in the incident and her body was retrieved after eight-long hours of hectic search.

Meanwhile, J&K minister Satish Sharma visited the residences of several victims to offer condolences to the bereaved families.

During his visit, Sharma interacted with the family members, expressed deep grief over the irreparable loss of precious lives and prayed for eternal peace to the departed souls.

He also conveyed heartfelt sympathies and wished for strength and courage to the families to bear the tragedy.

The minister assured the affected households that the government stands with them in this difficult time and said that all necessary support and relief measures would be extended without delay.

Sharma said the heartbreaking incident has shattered the entire J&K, reiterating the government’s commitment to provide full assistance and rehabilitation support to the families of the victims.

The minister also attended the last rites of the victims held at different places in Jammu district.

Meanwhile, the rescue operation was going on at war footing with nearly a dozen earth movers and special equipment mobilized to locate the missing persons, whose exact figures are not known yet, the officials said.

They said so far 76 persons have been reported missing by their families and efforts are on to locate them.