India: Several days of torrential rain leave about 60 dead

DEADLY MONSOON In the states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, heavy rains caused flooding and landslides

Rescuers are working to find survivors after the collapse of a Hindu temple in Shimla, in the state of Himachal Pradesh , in India on August 14, 2023. — Pradeep Kumar/AP

The current monsoon in India is particularly deadly. About 60 people have perished in the country during massive floods and devastating landslides, announcing the authorities on Monday.

Several days of torrential rain destroyed bridges and buildings, washed away vehicles in the northern states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. In the latter, the schools were closed.

Temple collapse kills nine

In Himachal Pradesh, the most affected by the bad weather, at least 50 people have died in the past 24 hours, said the Prime Minister of this state, Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu. Nine of them lost their lives in the collapse of a Hindu temple in San Francisco. Shimla, the local capital.

“Never before have we recorded such rains and more than 50 deaths in the state over a 24-hour period – and that toll may rise further as there are still around 20 people under the rubble,” said ; late in the evening Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu to the media. “The local government is trying to (…) rescue people who may still be trapped,” he previously explained. India’s President, Droupadi Murmu, for her part, said “hurried by the loss of life in the crashes linked to the heavy rains”.

< iframe class="digitekaPlayer" id="digitekaPlayer_01357940" width="600" height="400" src="https://www.ultimedia.com/deliver/generic/iframe/mdtk/01357940/zone/1/src/q58vr5u/showtitle/1/?tagparam=category%3Dworld" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" hspace="0" vspace="0" webkitallowfullscreen="true" mozallowfullscreen= "true" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade">

In the most affected areas, major roads and power lines have been removed. heavily damaged, blocking thousands of people. The railway network has also suffered heavy damage. killings in July

In the state of Uttarakhand, relief teams attempted to to extricate people buried by landslides. Near the banks of the Ganges, in the tourist town of Rishikesh, five people found themselves trapped. Among them, only one young girl was rescued, said the district police commissioner, stating that the rest of his family was still stranded; under the rubble. In total, at least eight people have been killed since Friday due to bad weather in that state, according to authorities.

During the monsoon, floods and landslides are frequent and cause damage. ts considerable but their numbers are increasing with climate change, experts say. In July, several days of monsoon rains caused the death of at least 90 people in India, while the Yamuna, a river that flows through the capital New Delhi, has seen its highest levels since 1978.