\nSneha from Jammu says she had felt it was all over for her after being washed away and buried under a vehicle. \u201cAs we reached our vehicles, we heard a loud bang and saw a cloudburst over the hill,\u201d she recalled.
\nIn no time, a wall of mud, boulders, and trees swept them towards the Chenab River, trapping them.
\n\u201cMy 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,\u201d she said.
\nShe said some villagers were washed away into the Chenab. \u201cBodies lay everywhere. The entire hill had come down. Even the Thakur ji idol of Chittoo Mata Temple was washed away before our eyes.\u201d
\nSneha says the swift action of officials, police, the Army, CRPF, and locals saved countless lives. \u201cWithin an hour, vehicles arrived to take the injured to hospitals. If they had been late, many more would have died,\u201d she said.
\nThe 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.
\nThe 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.
\nSudhir from Udhampur was with a group of 12 when the \u201csky and earth seemed to collapse together\u201d.
\n\u201cAfter the blast sound, the whole area was filled with fog and dust,\u201d he recalled. \u201cMost 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.\u201d
\nBlood-stained bodies, mud-filled lungs, shattered ribs, and deep wounds packed with stones \u2014 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.
\nUndergoing treatment at the hospital, Sunita Devi from Nanak Nagar said, \u201cI 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\u2026 Mata Rani saved us.\u201d
\nOthers were not so fortunate. Uma from Jammu clung to a vehicle tyre to avoid being swept away. \u201cA policeman saved me. But my sister, Gahna Raina, is still missing,\u201d she said.
\nVaishali Sharma, who was in a 15-member group, said they ran into a shop for shelter when told about the cloudburst.
\n\u201cIt 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\u2019t know where my parents are. Thanks to the Army, I and five others were rescued.\u201d
\nRescuers, 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.
\nAdditional Superintendent of Police Pradeep Singh said all forces were engaged in the massive search-and-rescue effort. \u201cSDRF, Army, CRPF, CISF, Police \u2014 everyone is on the ground\u201d.
\nHe 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. \u201cWithout them, more lives would have been lost.\u201d
\n\u201cThis has been a battle against death,\u201d a rescue worker said.<\/p>\n
![\"J&K](\"https:\/\/jammubulletin.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/533367590_122153602370780384_8076299706037774916_n-300x169.jpg\")
Chositi (J-K), 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":31824,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[67,15,89],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-header","category-jammu-and-kashmir","category-national"],"gutentor_comment":0,"yoast_head":"\n