Flash floods caused by torrential rains in a remote village in India-controlled Kashmir have left at least 44 people dead, authorities said Thursday, as rescue teams scouring the devastated Himalayan village brought at least 200 people to safety.

Following a cloudburst in the region’s Chositi village, which triggered floods and landslides, disaster management official Mohammed Irshad estimated that at least 50 people were still missing, with many believed to have been washed away.

India’s deputy minister for science and technology, Jitendra Singh, warned that the disaster “could result in substantial" loss of life.

At least 50 of the rescued people, many of whom were brought from a stream under mud and debris, were seriously injured and were being treated in local hospitals, official said.

Chositi is a remote Himalayan village in Kashmir’s Kishtwar district and is the last village accessible to motor vehicles on the route of an ongoing annual Hindu pilgrimage to a mountainous shrine at an altitude of 3,000 meters (9,500 feet) and about an 8-kilometer (5-mile) trek from the village.

Multiple pilgrims were also feared to be affected by the disaster.

Officials said that the pilgrimage was suspended and more rescue teams were on the way to the area to strengthen relief operations.

The pilgrimage began on July 25 and was scheduled to end on Sept. 5.

The first responders to the disaster were villagers and local officials who were later joined by police and disaster management officials, as well as personnel from India’s military and paramilitary forces, an official said.

The devastating floods swept away the main community kitchen set up for the pilgrims as well as dozens of vehicles and motorbikes, officials added.

They added that more than 200 pilgrims were in the kitchen when the tragedy struck.

The flash floods also damaged and washed away many homes, clustered together in the foothills.

Photos and videos circulating on social media showed extensive damage caused in the village with multiple vehicles and homes damaged.