12 dead after homes collapse during torrential rain in India

At least 12 people have been killed after homes collapsed during heavy rain in northern Indian.

The downpour also caused power outages and the flooding of hundreds of houses.

Schools were closed for the day in Lucknow, the Uttar Pradesh state capital, where the meteorological office recorded 1.4in of torrential rain in the past 24 hours, said Brijesh Pathak, the state’s deputy chief minister.

A wall collapsed on a slum dwelling made of plastic sheets and mud early on Friday in the Hazratganj area of the state capital where laborers were sleeping. Nine died on the spot and another three were taken to hospital with injuries, Mr Pathak said.

In Unnao, a town 25 miles south west of Lucknow, another three people were killed in a house collapse following torrential rains, Mr Pathak said.

Earlier this month, life was disrupted in the southern Indian city of Bengaluru after two days of torrential rain caused widespread power cuts and heavy floods that swept into homes and submerged roads.

The two zones that make up the city, Bengaluru Urban and Bengaluru Rural, saw 141% and 114% excess rainfall, making it the wettest September day in the past eight years.

Monsoon rains in South Asia typically begin in June. But this year, heavy downpours lashed north-eastern India and Bangladesh from March, triggering floods as early as April in Bangladesh.

The monsoon season that ends in October leaves hundreds of people dead and tens of thousands homeless every year.

The weather system for the Indian subcontinent is being altered due to climate change. Scientists say this is making extreme events such as excess rainfall the new normal.

With rising global temperatures due to climate change, experts say the monsoon is becoming more variable. Much of the rain that would typically fall in a season is arriving in a shorter period of time.