Fourteen dead in floods, landslides in north-east India

Floods and landslides triggered by heavy rainfall have led to the death of at least 14 people in north-eastern India over the past three days and cut off vital rail links to the region, officials and news reports said on Wednesday.

The incessant rains had impacted more than 400,000 people and destroyed thousands of acres of crops in Assam, a state Disaster Management Department official said. An estimated 40,000 people had taken shelter in temporary relief camps.

Railway tracks in a hill area had suffered "unprecedented damage" a railway official said, resulting in broken links to the southern part of the state and neighbouring Mizoram, Manipur and Tripura states.

Major roads were under several feet of water. Aerial photographs showed marooned villages in a sea of water.

Most of the nine victims in Assam died either by drowning or were buried in landslides and house collapses. One person died of electrocution.

Five people died in Itanagar, the capital of neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh state, due to heavy rainfall, The Telegraph newspaper reported.

A red alert has been sounded for Assam and Meghalaya by the Meteorological Department which predicted more rainfall for the next four to five days.

Two people died in information technology hub Bengaluru in southern India, which has also been experiencing heavy rainfall over the past four days, NDTV news channel reported.

Several roads are flooded, along with underpasses. Residents shared photographs of roads turned to rivers and lakes with water levels as high as the window panes of cars.