Deadly landslide hits India state

[Watchman]

Deadly landslide hits India state

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At least 15 people are reported to have been killed in a landslide in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand.

Several houses were washed away in two villages when heavy rain swept Pithoragarh district, officials quoted by the Press Trust of India (PTI) said.

Reports say many people were trapped in their homes when the landslide happened and dozens are still missing.

Pithoragarh is a mountainous region near the border with China and is prone to monsoons after June.

The rescue operation, which also involves local police, has been hampered by poor weather, PTI reported.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokriyal has gone to the district. He said relief work was under way.

 

[Watchman]

At least 38 feared dead in India rains

By Harmeet Shah Singh
CNN

NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- At least 38 people are feared dead in landslides and heavy rains in two hilly hamlets of northern India, authorities said Saturday.

The villages were about 5,000 feet high, said Manoj Pande, a senior disaster management official in northwestern Uttarakhand state's Pithoragarh district.

Ten bodies have been recovered and rescue efforts are ongoing, but chances of finding survivors are remote, Pande said.

Until Friday, federal authorities put the death toll at 654 from seasonal monsoon flooding this year.

More than 2.9 million people in India have been affected by floods since June, according to federal officials.

Yearly monsoon rains sweep across the subcontinent from June till September. Though they bring much-needed relief to often-parched farmlands, they also leave a trail of landslides, home collapses and often fatal floods