Now, flood of severed limbs spooks Chasoti

CHASOTI (KISHTWAR): Almost as numerous severed limbs as undamaged bodies have actually been recuperated in Chasoti in the previous 2 days after the flash floods, leaving villagers and medical professionals at Atholi sub-district health center, 30km downhill from the afflicted location, shaken.

On Monday, one undamaged body and a severed leg were recovered. On Tuesday, 4 more bodies and 2 severed feet got here, taking the verified death toll to 68. With 72 still missing out on and no survivors discovered after the very first 2 days, medical professionals and villagers think the last toll might climb up much greater. “The method things are, the toll will not stop here,” stated Dr Rakesh Kotwal, published at Atholi sub-district health center.

The very first sense of what had actually occurred reached Atholi at about 1.15 pm on August 14, when Kotwal got a call from his coworker at the exact same medical facility, Dr Devendra Kumar, who was at that time in Chasoti.

“It’s all over, all over, all over. The langar is gone,” Kumar duplicated. He informed Kotwal there had actually been 350-400 individuals at the langar when the flood struck and called numerous residents who were later on verified dead.Kotwal included that about 100 individuals were on the narrow bridge throughout the stream at the time, crossing from both instructions. “We can account for about 14 locals,” Kotwal said, “but there is no way of knowing how many others were there.

There were pilgrims from other districts; labourers from UP, Bihar and Jharkhand who had come to Kishtwar for work but joined the yatra and vendors selling pooja items and offering massages.

Some even come from Nepal. None of them are on any list.”Doctors and locals say there is now little hope of any survivors among those still missing. “The last injured person came here on August 16,” said Dr Showkat Parray, a surgeon at the hospital, where bodies are wrapped in bags and put into ambulances to be taken to Govt Medical College and Hospital, Jammu.

“Since then, we have received only bodies and body parts. There is no possibility of survivors now. The missing are gone.

” On Tuesday, the sun broke through for the first time since the flood. As the waters receded, more bodies began to surface.Both Showkat and Kotwal admitted that finding an intact body now feels like a form of relief. “When a complete body comes in, at least a family can take their relative home, perform rites and find closure,” Showkat said.

“But when it is only a leg or a foot, we have to keep it separately, record it as a casualty, and wait for DNA. Until then, it is an orphaned piece of information.” Limbs and torsos are being catalogued and sent to Jammu, where DNA samples from families will be stored and matched. “Right now, even a severed limb is treated as a separate dead person because it cannot be matched,” Naseer Ahmed, an accountant at the hospital, said.In Chasoti, villagers spoke of waiting not for loved ones alive but for whatever fragments might be found. Abdul Majid, 54, whose nephew is among the missing, said simply, “A hand is someone’s son, a foot is someone’s father. We wait for parts in bags now.” Shiv Kumar, 38, lost his sister and her two children. Only her torso has been recovered. “We lit the pyre for what we had, but the mourning does not end,” he said. “We still wait for her children.” Some have not even had that much. Shabnam Begum, 29, who lost her husband and father-in-law, said she no longer goes to the riverbank. “In the first days I stood there, thinking someone alive might still come out. Now I know it is only limbs, only pieces. I cannot watch anymore.” Rescue teams from SDRF, NDRF, the Army, and police continue their operations, but even they admit there is nothing left to rescue. Inspector Manoj Kumar of NDRF said, “We are not looking for survivors anymore. We are only recovering the dead.” Sub-inspector Altaf Hussain of the SDRF, who has been ferrying remains from Chasoti to Atholi, added: “Every intact body we find feels like a mercy. Families can claim them whole.

But most of the time, it is just parts.”