At least 56 people have died and dozens more remain missing after torrents of water and mud driven by intense rain crashed through a Himalayan village Thursday in Indian-administered Kashmir, officials said.
It is the second major deadly flooding disaster in India this month.
Mohammad Irshad, a top disaster management official, told AFP "56 dead bodies were recovered" from the site before rescue efforts were halted for the night.
Irshad said 80 people were reported missing and 300 people were rescued, "50 of whom are severely injured" and were sent to nearby hospitals.
"The news is grim," Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said in a statement, reporting a "cloudburst" of intense rain that had hit the Kishtwar district.
Crowds gathered at a Kishtwar hospital while people carried some of the injured on stretchers.
"We have found 34 dead bodies and rescued 35 injured people," said Pankaj Kumar Sharma, district commissioner of Kishtwar.
"There are chances of more dead bodies to be found," he said.
Sushil Kumar, a resident of nearby Atholi village: "I saw at least 15 dead bodies brought to the local hospital."
Rescue teams are likely to face difficulty reaching the area.
Roads had already been damaged by days of heavy storms. The area lies more than 200 kilometres by road from the region's main city Srinagar.
"Every possible assistance will be provided to those in need," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.
On August 5th, floods swept away the Himalayan town of Dharali in India's Uttarakhand state and buried it in mud. The likely death toll from that disaster is more than 70 but has yet to be confirmed.
Floods and landslides are common during the monsoon season from June to September, but experts say climate change, coupled with poorly planned development, is increasing their frequency and severity.
UN World Meteorological Organization, said last year that increasingly intense floods and droughts are a "distress signal" of what is to come as climate crisis makes the planet's water cycle ever more unpredictable.
