Rains trigger landslides, floods; India death toll rises to 114

INDIA: Rains triggered landslides, snapped electricity cables and inundated a wide swath of northern India, pushing the death toll from monsoon rains in the country to 114, officials said Monday. The heaviest downpour of the season so far claimed at least 18 lives Sunday in Uttar Pradesh, India's largest state, said Surendra Srivastava, a police spokesman.

At least five people died in the state capital, Lucknow, when houses collapsed following torrential rains. So far, the rain has killed 49 people in the state, said Srivastava.

At least 13 people have died in western Gujarat state amid heavy downpours over the past five days, while officials in eastern Orissa state on Sunday reported 15 deaths, most caused by lightning.

Rain and gale-force winds uprooted electric poles and felled trees, often onto highways, blocking traffic in many parts of Uttar Pradesh. No new deaths were reported in southern Kerala state, where the seasonal rains arrived May 25 - a week ahead of schedule - damaging homes and destroying farmland. Officials in Kerala had previously reported 21 deaths there, caused by flooding and collapsed buildings.

Hundreds of people were living in relief camps after floods wrecked their homes.

The annual rains, which have been moving up the coast since hitting Kerala, arrived Tuesday in the western state of Maharashtra, 10 days ahead of schedule, killing at least 16 people there over the past week.

In India's remote northeastern Assam state, at least 2,500 people were evacuated to makeshift government relief camps in the central Assam district of Nagaon.

Lucknow, Monday, AP