Floods, landslides claim 50 lives in northern India

At least 50 people were killed, nine of them in a temple collapse, and dozens more were feared missing after intense rains caused floods and landslides in India, officials said on Monday.Days of torrential downpours have washed away vehicles, demolished buildings and destroyed bridges in the northern Himalayan states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.Flooding and landslides are common and cause widespread devastation during India’s treacherous monsoon season, but experts say climate change is increasing their frequency and severity.In Himachal Pradesh, 41 people were killed in the past 24 hours, up from an earlier toll of 16, an official toll showed. That included at least nine killed in the collapse of a temple in the state capital, Shimla. At least 13 others were missing, it said."The local administration is diligently working to clear the debris in order to rescue individuals who may still be trapped,” Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said in a statement.At least eight others have been killed since Friday in neighbouring Uttarakhand state, officials said.Images from hard-hit areas in Himachal Pradesh showed bodies being pulled out of thick piles of dark earth that had crushed buildings and smashed roofs.Thousands of people have been stranded, with key roads, power lines and communication networks disrupted.Railway lines were seen dangling in midair, with the ground beneath them washed away.Sukhu, who posted on social media a "disturbing” video of a raging torrent swamping roads, appealed to residents to stay indoors and avoid going near rivers.