Torrential monsoon rains kill 59 in India this week
Posted September 27, 2019 11:47 pm.
Last Updated September 29, 2019 1:03 pm.
LUCKNOW, India — A government official says a heavy spell of retreating monsoon rains has flooded wide areas in northern India, killing dozens of people this week.
Sandhaya Kureel, a spokeswoman of the Disaster Management and Relief Department, says most of the 59 fatalities were caused by house collapses, lightning and drowning in Uttar Pradesh state. These included at least four people dying of snake bites in flooded areas.
The temple city of Varanasi was lashed by 19 centimetres (7 inches) of rain on Thursday and Friday, flooding the bathing areas of the Ganges River used by thousands of Hindu pilgrims.
More than 350 people have been killed by rain-related causes in India, Nepal and Bangladesh this monsoon season, which runs from June through September.
