Monsoon floods, landslides kill at least 221 in South Asia

Floods and landslides triggered by heavy monsoon rains have killed at least 221 people across South Asia over past month, officials said Friday.

More than 1 million people have been marooned in Nepal, Banglesh and India and hundreds of thousands have fled ir homes for higher ground.

Indian officials said floods and mudslides killed 16 more people in rast and eight people were killed in building collapses in Mumbai, raising death toll in country to 101. Nepal reported at least 117 deaths over past month and Banglesh reported three.

Eight people were killed in two partial building collapses in Mumbai on Thursday, fire service control room said on Friday. One of buildings was dilapidated and most residents h vacated it for repair but some families stayed, fire service said. Six people died re.

Rains caused Brahmaputra River, which flows through Tibet, India and Banglesh, to burst its banks in India's Assam state late last month, inundating large swas of state, triggering mudslides and displacing about 3.6 million people, officials said. Vast tracts are still underwater, with 26 of state’s 33 districts bly affected.

Authorities rescued about 4,000 people trapped by surging flood waters in various parts of Assam, said M.S. Mannivanan, chief of state Disaster Manment Authority. About 36,000 people whose homes were destroyed or submerged have taken shelter in nearly 300 government-run relief camps, he said.

floods also inundated most of India’s Kaziranga National Park, home to an estimated 2,500 rare one-horned rhis, authorities said.

In eastern state of Bihar, at least nine rivers swollen by heavy downpours in Nepal rose beyond ir danger levels and inundated many vills. One of m, Gandak River, swept away connecting ros of a newly built multimillion dollar bridge in Bihar’s Gopalganj district, disrupting transportation in area.

Meteorological Center in state capital, Patna, forecast heavy rain over next 48 hours.

Nepal’s Home Ministry said 117 people have died in monsoon-related incidents, including landslides in mountaius areas and flooding in sourn plains. At least 47 people were reported missing and 126 have been injured in past month, it said.

In Banglesh, Ministry of Disaster and Relief said at least three people have died and more than 1 million people have been marooned since floods hit country late last month. Officials said heavy rainfall and onrush of river waters from upstream India were creating havoc in Banglesh, a delta nation of 160 million people that is crisscrossed by 230 rivers.

Banglesh's Flood Forecasting and Warning Center said Thursday that flooding could worsen at beginning of next week because of growing devastation in vast region along Brahmaputra and Teesta rivers. It said situation would remain unstable over next two weeks, causing furr suffering for affected people.

Annual monsoon rains hit region in June-September. rains are crucial for rain-fed crops planted during season but often cause extensive dam.