Monsoon floods in northern India kill more than 60

[News_Editor]

DEHRADUN, INDIA (BNO NEWS) -- Heavy monsoon rains triggered massive floods and landslides across a number of states in northern India on Monday, killing at least 62 people and leaving dozens more feared missing, officials said. It is expected the death toll will increase further.

At least 37 people were killed and 34 others were injured in Uttarakhand state, the worst affected area, according to the Press Trust of India (PTI). Among those were three people who died when a three-story apartment building toppled into a river in Uttarkashi, and video broadcast by Indian media showed the dramatic collapse.

At least 15 people were killed in the state of Uttar Pradesh while 10 more died in Himachal Pradesh, the news agency reported, quoting disaster management officials. The figure includes five family members who died when boulders came down on their house in Himachal Pradesh.

Indian Air Force helicopters that were on standby since Sunday were called into service numerous times. The aircraft, including helicopters such as Mi-17 and ALH, carried out missions to airlift rescue workers, equipment, relief material, medical aid and to assist in rescue operations.

The Ministry of Defense said its equipment remained on standby and Air Force helicopters had rescued at least 43 people, including 15 adults and six children in the Nakur area of Saharanpur district in Uttar Pradesh state and 22 people in the Indri Subdivision of Karnal district in the state of Haryana.

Monsoon rains arrived in India at the beginning of this month, first arriving in the country's southwest before traveling north as it soaked farmland desperately in need of rain after scorching summer temperatures. The monsoon season lasts from June to September, during which the country receives three quarters of its yearly amount of rainfall.

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