Jammu, Aug. 15 -- "I don't know how I survived.. it's nothing less than a miracle," said Sanjay Kumar (42), a resident of Udhampur, as he recounted the carnage that unfolded at a community kitchen in Kishtwar district of Jammu & Kashmir after it was struck by flash flood on Thursday afternoon. Kumar was among 100-150 devotees at Machail Chishoti Langar (community kitchen) when the flash flood, carrying water and boulders, made its way at 12.30am -- sweeping away several in its path. "It was raining heavily in the area, but I never thought such a calamity would strike. Some pilgrims were having food while some had taken refuge inside it to protect themselves from rain." Kumar said. "Suddenly, a flashflood carrying debris hit the community kitchen. Everyone was totally caught off guard and the deluge flattened everything that came in its way." Subhash Chander Gupta (55), a resident of Udhampur and community kitchen's head, also said that food being was served when the flash flood struck Chishoti, the last motorable village on the way to the temple. "Around noon, we were serving food to the pilgrims when all of a sudden a strong flash flood carrying big boulders, trees and soil came hurling down a rivulet," he said. Large swathes of water hit the kitchen at an instant, leaving no time for the devotees to react and make an effort to escape, noted Gupta. "I heard screams all over followed by a deafening silence. I got stuck at the bottom of a big boulder and the mudslides passed over me," he said. "I remained stuck with the boulder for over three hours." Gupta, who believed he would not survive the deluge, sustained only minor injuries. He is currently recuperating at a sub-district hospital in Atholi. Moments before disaster struck, Kumar recalled, around 15 pilgrims, including children, alighted from four vehicles at a parking lot adjoining to the kitchen. "Their vehicles toppled like toys and they were swept away in the strong torrent of flash floods," he said. Kumar, who described his survival as a miracle, received fractures in his legs along with other minor injuries. He is currently receiving treatment at a district hospital in Kishtwar. In the aftermath of the disaster, hospitals were filled with the cries of distressed relatives and injured individuals. "It is an unbearable situation. But we are here to support them," Kishtwar MLA Shugan Parihar said as he joined efforts of locals and security forces in recovering bodies and rescuing the injured. "We have been calling the administration to send ambulances faster for treatment. The situation is very bad here in the village battered by the cloudburst."...