Army helicopters assist in rescue efforts after a landslide and cloudburst in Kathua, J&K, leaving seven people dead

Days after a similar catastrophe in Kishtwar earlier this week claimed over 60 lives, two separate cloudburst and landslide accidents in the Kathua area of Jammu & Kashmir resulted in at least seven fatalities and five injuries.

According to officials, a number of homes in the Jodh Ghati neighborhood were submerged beneath debris and flooding. Additionally, the Jammu–Pathankot National Highway was reported damaged. There are rescue crews on the scene.

According to officials, two people died in a landslide caused by rain in the Janglote area, while five people died in Jodh Ghati, which was struck by a cloudburst that cut off access to the village and damaged some homes.

According to officials, a number of Army columns were brought into the affected areas to help rescue stranded individuals and transport injured people to hospitals after the catastrophe. According to PTI, 15 people were flown to a hospital by an Army chopper that was used for rescue efforts in Ghatti.

The injured were flown to a hospital in Pathankot, Punjab, by the Dhruv helicopters. According to the officials, Rising Star Corps troops are assisting residents, police, and the SDRF in the area to rescue families while delivering food and medical attention.

Another image that India Today TV was able to view showed a Kathua police station totally submerged. According to officials, a railroad track has also sustained damage.

Access to the settlement was cut off, and some property and land damage resulted from the incident that occurred on the intervening nights of Saturday and Sunday. After a cloudburst, mud and debris gathered in a residential neighborhood in Kathua on Sunday, August 17, 2025. (Photo by PTI)

A joint team of police and SDRF have been rushed to the village and further details are awaited, officials told news agency PTI.

They claimed that although there were no significant reports of damage, landslides also struck Dilwan-Hutli in the area of Lakhanpur police station and Bagard and Changda villages, which are within the authority of Kathua police station. Road damage during a cloudburst, Sunday, August 17, 2025, Kathua. (Photo by PTI)

According to officials, the Ujh River is now flowing close to the danger mark as a result of the recent rains that have caused the level of most water bodies to rise sharply.

The district administration is closely watching the situation and have requested people to stay away from water bodies for their safety, the officials said.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah promised all required aid for anyone impacted shortly after the tragedy.

“The Chief Minister has conveyed sorrow over the terrible death toll and destruction brought about by landslides in several areas of District Kathua, such as Jodh Khad and Juthana, which resulted in four fatalities and numerous injuries. He prayed for the injured’s quick recovery, offered the grieving families his deepest sympathies, and promised all the help they needed,” a CMO statement said.

In addition to expressing his sympathies to the families of the victims, LG Manoj Sinha stated that he keeps in close communication with Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the ongoing rescue and relief operations in the impacted areas.

“Deeply disturbed by the loss of life in the devastating rain-triggered landslides in several areas of Kathua,” he said on X. The catastrophe has left me mentally numb. gave the Honorable Union Home Minister Sh. Amit Shah Ji an update on the army’s, the NDRF’s, the SDRF’s, the police’s, and the administration’s rescue and relief efforts.”

“I have given the Senior Civil and Police Officials instructions to plan and carry out rescue and relief operations in the impacted areas and guarantee on-site medical support.” I’m hoping for the injured people’s quick recovery and sending my condolences to their families,” he added.

“Spoke with the Lieutenant Governor and Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir regarding the cloudburst in Kathua,” Home Minister Amit Shah posted on X after speaking with LG Sinha. The local government is conducting relief and rescue efforts, and NDRF teams have also been dispatched to the scene. Assured every support from the Modi government. We stand firmly behind our sisters and brothers of J&K.”

Flash floods that swept through the area on the Machail Mata Yatra route to the Himalayan temple of Mata Chandi have left hundreds of people missing in Kishtwar, with many believed to be buried beneath the wreckage.

Thirty-eight of the 167 persons who have been rescued so far are reportedly in serious condition. Many more are believed to be trapped following the deluge, which flattened a makeshift market, a langar (community kitchen) site for the yatra, and a security outpost.