Landslide in Northern India Claims at Least 15 Lives, Including Children
A โlandslide triggered by heavy rainfall struck a bus in the northern Indian state of โขHimachal Pradesh on Wednesday,โ killing at least 15 people and injuring three children, police reported. The victims included nine men, fourโข women, and two children โwho were traveling on the bus when the disaster occurred.
The incident underscores โthe increasing vulnerability of South Asia to extreme whetherโค events, exacerbated by climate change. โThis โฃyear’s unusuallyโค intense monsoon season has โขbrought widespread floodingโฃ and landslides across the region, impacting millions and raising concernsโข about infrastructure stability and disaster preparedness. Rescue operations are ongoing to locate any remainingโ passengers believed to be missing.
Authorities confirmed thatโ three โinjured โฃchildren were rescued from the wreckage and are receiving treatment at a โขlocal hospital, according to aโข statement from the office of Sukhvinderโ Singhโค Sukhu, the state’s highest-elected โofficial. Rescueโข teams continue to search for other passengers who are presumedโ dead.
Intermittent rains since Monday have saturated the fragile mountain slopes inโ the region, contributingโ to the landslide. President Draupadi Murmu and Prime โMinisterโ Narendra Modi have expressed theirโข condolences.
The disaster is part of aโ broader pattern of extreme weather events across South โAsia โthis year. โคIn August,flash floods washed away an entire village in India’s Uttarakhand state,and Nepal โฃreported at least 44 deaths โover the weekend โขdue โto mudslidesโ and flooding. The weekend’sโค heavy rainfall occurred near the end of Nepal’s monsoon season,which typically โขruns โfrom June to mid-September,and disrupted domestic flights in Kathmandu.
Experts attribute the increasing intensity of โขSouth โขAsia’s โmonsoons to human-caused climate change,โ which is causing more erratic rainfall patterns – extreme downpoursโค followed byโข prolonged dry spellsโ – disrupting traditional agricultural โคcycles and increasing โคthe risk of natural disasters. The monsoon season traditionallyโ runs from June to September and again from October to December.โ Affected countries include India, Pakistan,โฃ Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka,โข Afghanistan, maldives, and Nepal.