India: Rescue work begins after mudslides kill 42 people

Dozens have been killed after a mudslide devastated a railway construction site in northeastern India.

A desperate rescue mission was launched in the rugged hills of Noney, a town near Imphal, following Wednesday’s incident.

According to local reports in the state of Manipur, the death toll has now risen to 42.

It came as eight other bodies – including one of a two-year-old child – were recovered on Sunday.

Twenty-seven Territorial Army soldiers were among the dead, officials said today.

Twenty people are still missing, and searches are ongoing as heavy rain continues to pour down.

Union Minister of State Dr. Subhas Sarkar promised that the central government was ready to provide any help it could.

Persistent rains have devastated large parts of north-east India, affecting 45 million people and neighboring Bangladesh.

Army personnel had been keeping railroad officials safe because of a decades-long insurgency that sought separate homes for ethnic and tribal groups in the area.

Dredgers were also used to search for bodies in the rivers.

Bad weather in northeastern India killed 200 people in heavy downpours and mudslides in states including Assam, Manipur, Tripura and Sikkim, while 42 died in Bangladesh.

Hundreds of thousands have been displaced in India.

Scientists blame climate change for the hostile weather and mudslides.

Monsoon-like weather in Asia usually starts in June, but the torrential rain started as early as March this year.

Experts warn that the monsoon season will become more variable due to climate change.

A consequence of this is that rain that would normally fall throughout the season arrives in a shorter period of time.

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