India monsoon: At least 33 dead as heavy rain triggers floods and landslides in Himalayas
At least 33 people have died and many others are trapped after monsoon rain triggered floods and landslides in India’s Himalayan region.
Nine people were killed on Sunday night in the mountainous Himachal Pradesh state’s Solan district following a cloudburst.
Nine more bodies were then pulled out from under mud and debris after two landslides near a Hindu temple in Shimla, the state’s capital, the chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said on X (formerly Twitter).
He said four others were killed due to the weather in the state’s Hamirpur district.
Authorities warned the number of those killed could still rise as rescuers continue to work to reach those trapped and clear the debris.
In Solan, homes were washed away, police told the Press Trust of India news agency.
All schools and colleges in the state have been shut and more than 700 roads, inundated with water, have been closed.
Cloudbursts happen when more than 10cm (3.94in) of rainfall occurs within 3.86 square miles (10 sq km) within an hour.
Although a common occurrence in Himalayan regions, experts have said they are alarmed by the increase in extreme weather-related events in the area.
India’s weather department said moderate to heavy rain will continue to hit various parts of the state on Monday.
In July, record monsoon showers killed more than 100 people over two weeks in parts of northern India, including in Himachal Pradesh, which was the worst hit.
In neighbouring Myanmar, five people were killed and around 60,000 were displaced following heavy flooding by monsoon rain.
Lay Shwe Zin Oo, the director of the ministry of social welfare, relief and resettlement, said on 11 August that four children were among those killed.