Monsoon toll rises across South Asia

At least 12 people were killed when a house collapsed in northern India following heavy monsoon rain which has left more than 100 dead across South Asia, officials said yesterday. Floods and landslides caused by torrential downpours have killed at least 67 people across Nepal  while 30 more are missing, police said. In Bangladesh, at least 29 people have died since July 9 including 18 who were hit by lightning and seven who drowned after their boat capsized in choppy waters in the Bay of Bengal. 

Another 10 people have died in overcrowded Rohingya refugee camps in southeast Bangladesh where thousands of shanty homes have been destroyed. In the latest monsoon-related tragedy in India, a four-storey building on a hillside in the northern state of Himachal Pradesh collapsed, killing 12 people and trapping at least seven others. The structure -- located near popular tourist destination Shimla -- came down on Sunday following days of heavy downpours.

Rescue workers searched the rubble for survivors, while heavy machinery removed heaps of mangled steel and wires from the muddied debris. Local official K.C. Chaman said 12 people had died in the collapse, adding that rescuers were looking “for at least seven other people” trapped in the debris. One soldier -- who was pulled out alive from the rubble -- said they had gathered for a party in the building’s restaurant, “but suddenly the building shook and collapsed”.

Such incidents are common across the region during the monsoon because of dilapidated structures that buckle under the weight of continuous rain. The June to September monsoon causes widespread death and destruction across South Asia each year. Floods have devastated much of the northeastern Indian state of Assam where four people died on Sunday after being swept away by sudden torrents. The state’s Kaziranga National Park, a UNESCO-recognised reserve and home to two-thirds of the world’s one-horned rhinos, has also been seriously affected by the weather.

In the eastern state of Bihar, five rivers were flowing over the danger levels with more rain forecast over the next few days. The downpours have eased in Nepal but authorities still fear the death toll could rise, said police spokesman Bishwaraj Pokharel, who gave the latest number of dead and missing from floods and landslides. “There are the challenges of resettlement of the displaced as many houses.. have been swept away. We are also cautious about the risk of epidemics due to polluted water,” Pokharel said.