Seven killed in Indian mudslides
Torrential monsoon rains triggered mudslides in the capital of Assam state in north-eastern India today, killing seven people and injuring 10 others, police said.
Those killed were poor workers living illegally in mud huts on hill slopes in Gauhati, the capital of Assam, said a police officer.
Rescuers pulled one woman alive from the debris and were searching for other people who might be trapped under boulders which flattened the huts, Samir Sinha, a district magistrate, said.
Heavy downpours, which lashed the city for nearly two hours, flooded hundreds of homes in low-lying areas and left hundreds of cars stranded in water-logged streets.
Last month, more than 1,000 people were killed by floods and mudslides in western Maharashtra state.
A record 94 centimetres fell in a 24-hour period on July 26 in Bombay, shutting down India’s financial capital and cutting it off from the rest of the country for several days. Bombay is the capital of Maharashtra state.
Monsoon season in India begins in June and ends in September.
