8 more dead as India's Assam state reels under floods

19/6/2022 19:25

        Massive flooding and mudslides in northeastern India's Assam state have claimed eight more lives, officials said Sunday, taking the death toll to 62 from weeks of heavy rains that caused one of Asia's largest rivers to overflow.
        
        Assam's disaster management agency said 32 of the state's 35 districts were underwater as the swollen Brahmaputra River broke its banks, displacing more than 3 million people. The Indian army was called in for rescue efforts and the air force remained on standby.
        
        The Brahmaputra flows from China's Tibet through India and into Bangladesh on a nearly 800 kilometer journey through Assam.
        
        On Sunday, four people went missing when a boat carrying nine capsized in eastern Assam's Dibrugarh district, 500 kilometers east of Gauhati, the state capital. Police said that search operations were ongoing but they were hampered by strong currents.
        
        Forecasters are expecting a respite from rains after incessant downpours.