35 dead, 26 missing in floods, mudslides in Northern India

Heavy rain in northern India has left at least 35 people dead and 26 missing, officials said Saturday. Landslides and floods affected more than 50 villages in Uttarkhand state's Rudraprayag district, an official at the state's Disaster Mitigation and Management Centre control room in Dehra Dun said in a statement carried by PTI. More bodies were discovered from the affected villages Saturday taking the toll to 35, the official said, noting that Villages viz. Chunni, Mangoli, Kimana, Sansari, Giriya, Brahmankholi, Premnagar and Juatok in Ukhimath are the worst affected. At least 11 of 15 people admitted to local hospitals were in critical condition. More than 400 people had taken shelter at a relief camp. Roads had been cut by landslides and some communication and power lines had snapped. Search and rescue operations were continuing. More than 580 people have died so far in incidents brought on by heavy monsoon rains across the country since June 1, according to the federal Home Ministry. Earlier Friday, at least 26 people were killed and many were missing after downpours hit India's northern mountainous state of Uttarakhand, local police said. Dozens of houses collapsed after heavy rains in the central Rudradprayag and Bagheshwar districts late Thursday. Nineteen bodies had been recovered in three villages in Rudraprayag, a district police chief said. 'A number of people are feared trapped in the debris. Rescue operations are on and the death toll could rise further,' he said by phone, adding that seven injured had been hospitalized. Seven more people died in Bagheshwar, area police chief Nivedita Kukreti said. Last month at least 34 people were killed in flash floods in Uttarakhand. Sudden heavy rains are common in India's mountainous states during the monsoon season between June and September.