Chositi, Aug. 16 -- Nine-year-old Devanshi was among the hundreds of pilgrims who had gathered here for the last leg of the yatra to Machail Mata temple when tragedy struck on Thursday. Buried under mud and debris when a Maggi-point shop was hit by flash floods, she emerged hours later, rescued by her uncle and other villagers.

"I couldn't breathe. My uncle, Bouji, and others removed wooden planks after hours, and we all came out. Mata saved us," she says, the terror still vividly reflected in her voice.

Like her, 32-year-old Sneha is still in disbelief that she is alive. Moments after loading luggage onto their vehicle, she and her four family members were swept away in a roaring torrent, buried under mud, and crushed beneath a vehicle...