DEHRADUN: The peaceful Himalayan village of Dharali in Uttarkashi district has been nearly erased after a suspected cloudburst triggered a deadly flash flood and mudslide. In just hours, the village’s landscape was changed forever.

Uttarakhand, the mountainous northern state that hosts Dharali, has been devastated by cloudbursts before. A June 2013 cloudburst killed over 6,000 people in Uttarakhand and surrounding states, becoming the country's worst natural disaster in ten years. In 2021, flash flooding triggered by a cloudburst killed over 200.

The Indian Army and other forces were helping with the rescue, officials said. The flood’s full death toll may be higher, with so many missing.