15 dead in floods and landslides in India

New Delhi : At least 15 people died in floods and landslides in India yesterday, officials said, pushing the death toll from the annual monsoon rains pounding the country closer to 200.

Landslides swept at least nine people to their deaths in Manipur in India’s remote and hilly northeast, said the state’s chief minister Nongthombam Biren. “I am deeply saddened to know that nine precious life lost due to landslide at three places in Tamenglong headquarter,” he wrote on Twitter. Eight of the victims were children, including several from one family, local media reported.

Separately, six people were killed in floods and landslides in Uttarakhand, a Himalayan state in India’s north, officials there said Wednesday. Four members of one family were swept away by a landslide and two others drowned in a river swollen by heavy rain, state emergency department official Piyush Kumar told AFP.