With improvement in weather conditions, rescue teams reached cloudburst-hit flooded Honjar village of Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar district and launched an intensified search operation for the missing persons.
Nineteen villagers, including eight women, are still missing. Seven bodies were recovered and 17 persons, with serve injuries, were rescued from the debris by the teams since Wednesday morning.
Rescue teams started searches through muddy debris in Honjar village on Thursday morning in search of survivors of nature's calamity. Earlier, the rescue operation was halted on late Wednesday evening due to fresh rains and mud-sliding in the area,
The ill-fated village was hit by a flash flood following a cloudburst early Wednesday morning.
Authorities issue a list of missing persons
Amid intensification of rescue and relief operations by police, the Army, local volunteers, and teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), the district administration of Kishtwar on Thursday morning released a list of missing persons.
Missing persons include:
Saja Begum wife of Ghulam Mohidin, Khursheed Ahmed son of Mohammad Iqbal, Fida Hussain son of Mohammad Ramzan, Mohammad Sharif son of Ghulam Rasool, Almina Tasbassum daughter of Mohammad Iqbal, Mata Begum wife of Lala Tantry, Ghulam Mohammad son of Ghulam Rasool, Fazal Hussain son of Rustom Ali Chopan, Tariq Hussain son of Nazir Ahmed, Zarina Begum wife of Tariq Hussain, Mata Begum wife of Ghulam Rasool, Fatima Begum wife of Ghulam Ahmed, Bashir Ahmed son of Rustum Ali, Begum wife of Abdul Rehman, Sharifa Begum wife of Ghulam Mohammad, Shakir Hussain son of Ghulam Ahmed, Ghulam Ahmed son of Abdul Aziz, Zubaida Banoo daughter of Ghulam Ahmed and Khalid son of Haji Gami.
ADGP reaches Kishtwar, meets injured persons
Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Mukesh Singh reached Kishtwar on Wednesday evening to supervise the relief and rescue operation. He visited the district hospital in Kishtwar and met the injured persons. He also advised all district SSPs of the Jammu zone to assist in their respective districts to the people affected by incessant rain.
The officer said that the Jawans and officers of the Jammu zone should be at the forefront to provide support to the people affected by the inclement weather. Control rooms have been established in some districts affected by heavy rain.
Rains subside in Jammu region since Wednesday
The rains have subsided in the Jammu region since Wednesday evening and Weather Department on Thursday predicted that there is no forecast for any heavy rains in Jammu and Kashmir.
"No major rain occurred during the night in whole J&K and Ladakh. Right now, weather is generally cloudy at most places," an official of the MeT said, adding, "The weather will be generally cloudy becoming partly cloudy towards the afternoon. There is a possibility of occasional light rain at some places. However, there is no forecast of any heavy rain for today."
