The anger of people seeking information about their kin missing in the aftermath of a cloudburst is quite understandable, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said on Saturday after several locals confronted him in Chasoti and vented their frustration.

He said the focus of the rescue operation right now is to find those still trapped under the debris. A coordinated rescue and relief operation is underway in the village where 70 to 80 people have been reported missing by their families, even as locals and witnesses claim that hundreds may have been swept away by the flash flood and buried under giant boulders, wooden logs, and rubble. 

Abdullah reached the cloudburst-hit Chasoti, the last motorable village en route to the Machail Mata temple in the Kishtwar district, by car this morning and faced some people who were not happy with the rescue and relief efforts. “I can understand their anger. They have been waiting for their missing family members for the past two days. They want an answer. They want to know if their family members will come out alive or not,” he told reporters on his return journey.