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Floods kill 25 in India's Assam, displace thousands

Reuters . Guwahati
24 May 2022 20:49:22 | Update: 24 May 2022 20:49:48
Floods kill 25 in India's Assam, displace thousands
Villagers affected by flood dry their paddy crop on a road in Morigaon district, in the northeastern state of Assam, India on May 24, 2022 — Reuters

Flash floods and landslides in India's northeast Assam state killed at least 25 people and displaced over 650,000 from their homes in the past 10 days, officials said on Tuesday.

Heavy monsoons are a yearly occurrence in Assam, resulting in flooding and landslides which force residents to flee their homes, often leaving behind their belongings.

The Brahmaputra River, one of the largest rivers in the world which flows from Tibet to India and finally into Bangladesh, burst its banks in Assam, inundating more than 1,800 villages in 26 districts this month.

"Twenty people have died in separate incidents of drowning and five more were killed in landslides in the past 10 days," said Pijush Hazarika, Assam's water resources minister, adding that water levels were receding.

Parts of the railway network were devastated.

Authorities have also set up 366 relief camps across 20 districts, providing temporary shelter for more than 95,000 people. Roads, homes and buildings have been inundated by floodwaters in parts of the state.

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