Search for survivors after Indian floods, landslides kill 65

Rescuers searched on Tuesday for people feared missing in floods and landslides that have killed at least 65 in India, including 11 who died in the collapse of a popular temple.

Days of torrential downpours have washed away vehicles, demolished buildings and destroyed bridges in the Himalayas.

Flooding and landslides are common and cause widespread devastation during India’s treacherous monsoon season, but experts say climate change is increasing their frequency and severity.

At least 52 people have been killed in Himachal Pradesh since Sunday, with thousands more stranded after disruptions to roads, power lines and communication networks.

“The suffering of those affected cannot be relieved with money, but the government will provide all possible help to them in this hour of distress,” state Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said in a statement on Tuesday.

Sukhu said earlier that up to 20 others were feared trapped under rubble after landslides, and appealed to residents to stay indoors and avoid going near rivers.

Images from hard-hit areas in Himachal Pradesh showed bodies being pulled from piles of dark earth that had crushed buildings and smashed roofs.

“The rescue work is ongoing and we fear that at least 10 more people are still trapped under the rubble,” district disaster management committee chair Aditya Negi told AFP.

Elsewhere in the state, railway lines were seen dangling in midair after the ground beneath them was washed away.

Sukhu said the disaster was the worst to hit Himachal Pradesh in the past 50 years, adding that state authorities had scaled down Tuesday’s annual celebrations of Independence Day, marking the end of British colonial rule, to concentrate on rescue efforts.

More than 300 tourists had been rescued from the floods, he added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, speaking from the Red Fort in New Delhi for his annual Independence Day address, said that recent natural disasters had caused “unimaginable troubles” for families across the country.

“I express my sympathies toward all of them and I assure them that state and central governments will work together,” he told the crowd.