Landslide damages several buildings in Indian Himalayan state

By Anadolu staff

ANKARA (AA) - A fresh landslide in the Indian Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh damaged several buildings on Thursday as the death toll from the monsoon rains has reached 361 since June.

According to disaster management officials, the landslide destroyed eight houses in the Kullu district.

“Disturbing visuals emerge from Anni, Kullu, depicting a massive commercial building collapsing amidst a devastating landslide,” Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, the state’s chief minister, said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

"It's noteworthy that the administration had identified the risk and successfully evacuated the building two days prior," he added.

According to the state's disaster management authority, since June, 361 people have died and 342 others have been injured due to cloudbursts, landslides, floods and other reasons in the state.

Some 40 people are still missing.

The state, according to the officials, has seen damages to infrastructure worth several billions of rupees.

​​​​​​"Most of the people went missing due to this month's floods and landslides," Praveen Bhardwaj, a state disaster management official, told Anadolu.

In recent weeks, the Himachal state has seen heavy rains, leading to the blockage of hundreds of roads. Several videos on social media have shown buildings collapsing in seconds. This month alone, over 50 people died in the state.

Dozens of people have died in various Indian states in the past few months as heavy monsoons lash several parts of the country. Monsoon, the season of heavy rain in parts of Asia, lasts from June to September.