Monsoon rains: At least 50 dead in India amid flooding
Days of monsoon rain have caused severe flooding in India. According to authorities, 50 people have died in the north of the country. Media reports suggest the figure could be significantly higher.
According to authorities, at least 50 people have lost their lives in India due to flooding caused by heavy monsoon rainfall. Around 700,000 people were displaced in the northeastern Indian state of Assam following days of rain. The rainfall caused the Brahmaputra river to burst its banks.
Local media reported as early as Wednesday that more than 120 people had died. The monsoon had left a trail of devastation around the mountain region through flooding, flash floods and landslides.
Power outages and collapsed transport routes
The Chief Minister of Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma, announced that nearly 900 villages had been flooded. More than 7,000 homes were without electricity. Traffic in the Assam capital Guwahati was partially disrupted on Thursday evening due to flooding. Commuters were stranded for hours because of waterlogged roads.
According to experts, human-caused climate change is making monsoon rainfall in South Asia more intense. The monsoon rainy season normally lasts from June to September and then from October to December.
India's neighboring countries also affected
In Pakistan, 72 people have officially died since the end of June. Among them were 30 children, and a total of 187 people were also injured, Pakistan's disaster relief agency reported. The province of Punjab in particular, through which major rivers such as the Indus flow, and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region in the west of the country were affected.
Neighboring Afghanistan has also experienced severe flash floods with fatalities. According to Afghanistan's disaster relief agency, at least 23 people had lost their lives there by Tuesday, with dozens more reported missing.
