Flash floods, landslides kill almost 60 in India

DEHRADUN: At least 58 people died as flash floods and landslides hit India’s Himalayan region over the weekend amid heavy monsoon rains, officials said Tuesday. 

Search and rescue teams are looking for survivors with many people still believed to be trapped in rubble or missing.

Days of torrential downpours had washed away vehicles, demolished buildings, and destroyed bridges in the Himalayas, with thousands stranded after disruptions to roads, power lines, and communication networks.

Experts believe that climate change was increasing the frequency and severity of flooding and landslides were common and caused widespread devastation during India's devastating monsoon season.

"As many personnel as possible are being deployed in relief and rescue work," state chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said in a statement late Monday. "Work will continue on a war-footing to provide relief to the people."

Sukhu said earlier that up to 20 others were feared trapped under rubble after landslides, and appealed to residents to stay indoors and avoid going near rivers.

Images from hard-hit areas in Himachal Pradesh showed bodies being pulled out of piles of dark earth that had crushed buildings and smashed roofs.

Railway lines were seen dangling in midair, the ground beneath them washed away.

Moreover, at least nine people died when a landslide triggered the collapse of a Hindu temple in state capital Shimla, with officials fearing more were trapped underneath the rubble.

Sukhu said the state would scale down Tuesday's annual celebrations of Independence Day, which marks the end of the British colonial era, to concentrate on rescue efforts.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, speaking from the Red Fort in New Delhi for his annual holiday address, said that recent natural disasters had caused "unimaginable troubles" for families across the country.

"I express my sympathies towards all of them and I assure them that state and central governments will work together," he told the crowd.