At least 12 people are dying in southern India from rains causing widespread flooding in the city of Hyderabad, home to major information technology companies.
At least 12 people have been killed in incidents of wall and house collapses amid record rains in southern India, officials and media reports said.
Nine people were killed in the city of Hyderabad after a perimeter wall collapsed and fell on a cluster of houses during heavy rains Tuesday night, regional lawmaker Asaduddin Owaisi said on Twitter.
Indian media reports said that among the dead was a two-month-old baby.
Three more people, an elderly couple and their grandson, were killed when their home collapsed during the downpour in a nearby town also Tuesday night, local media reported.
Daily life has been thrown out of balance in parts of Hyderabad as roads were flooded and vehicles were washed away in various neighborhoods.
Residents help an elderly man make his way through a flooded street after heavy rains in Hyderabad [Noah Seelam/AFP]
Telangana and neighboring Andhra Pradesh states have seen heavy rains for the past three days caused by a deep depression in the Bay of Bengal.
A total of 18 people have died in the region since Monday, Indian media reports said.
Hyderabad received 25 centimeters (10 inches) of rain in the past 24 hours, the highest in more than 20 years, officials with the Indian Meteorological Department said, according to the Times of India newspaper.
Heavy rains and thunderstorms are expected in the region through Thursday. Hyderabad authorities declared holidays on Wednesday and Thursday and asked residents to stay inside.
Telangana: The streets are flooded in the Tolichowki area of Hyderabad due to heavy rains. pic.twitter.com/YaUb5bdChi
– ANI (@ANI) October 14, 2020
India’s monsoon season between June and early October has already seen widespread death and destruction.
The rains have damaged rice fields and other crops such as corn, cotton and legumes, traders said, but said it was too early to assess the full extent of the crop losses.
More than 1,030 people have died in rain-related incidents between June and mid-September, according to the Indian Ministry of the Interior.
More than 9.6 million people in South Asia have been affected by severe flooding this year, and hundreds of thousands are struggling to get food and medicine.
