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Kishtwar Flood Search Ramps Up as DNA Effort Expands, Toll Reported at 65–68

Officials have turned to DNA profiling to identify recovered remains.

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Dr Rakesh Kotwal, posted at the Atholi sub-district hospital, said that the final toll could be much higher.
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Overview

  • Multi-agency teams are intensifying operations at three priority zones and sweeping a 22-km stream corridor from Chisoti to Gulabgarh.
  • Authorities say 33 people remain missing, with at least 65 confirmed dead and some reports putting the toll at 68, and more than 100 injured.
  • Sixty-two bodies have been identified and handed to families, three remain unidentified, and preserved limbs are being matched through DNA profiling.
  • Heavy machinery, sniffer dogs, controlled explosions, a Bailey bridge and all-terrain vehicles are being used to clear debris and reach search areas.
  • Officials have not yet determined whether a cloudburst or a glacial lake outburst caused the disaster, and the Machail Mata yatra remains suspended except for the Charri group.