Srinagar, Aug 19: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today said finding the 70 missing people alive is next to impossible.

“The situation in Kishtwar is in front of you. As the days go by, I think we have to assume that finding the 70-odd missing people is next to impossible. In these circumstances, our effort will be to retrieve as many bodies as possible so we can hand them over to their families and they can perform the last rites,” he told reporters here.

Abdullah said the focus will also be on the rehabilitation of the people who have been affected.

The Chief Minister clarified that the disaster in Kishtwar was caused by a cloudburst and not by the bursting of glacial lakes. He said a team of experts has been appointed to assess vulnerable areas and suggest measures to reduce future risks.

After the cloudburst on August 14, massive boulders and giant conifer trees came crashing down on the village of Chisoti, flattening the Yatra base camp, a makeshift market, and some temples, and damaging at least 16 houses.

Joint teams of the police, Army, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), CISF, and........

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