The number of people killed in record monsoon rains in west India climbed to near 900 on Friday after a stampede sparked by rumours of a burst dam in a Mumbai township and a landslide in a village, police said.
”We are now confirming that the number of dead in Mumbai is 370,” said AN Roy, police chief of the western commercial hub.
The figure included 18 killed in the overnight stampede, 74 bodies dug out by rescuers from a landslide that engulfed houses in Mumbai’s Sakinaka area and five other flood-linked deaths, Roy said, updating earlier tolls.
At least 513 people have been killed elsewhere in Maharashtra state, of which Mumbai is the capital, according to BM Kulkarni, of the state police, taking the total number of confirmed deaths to 883.
The deaths were caused by landslides, drownings and building collapses that followed lashing rains that swept through the state from Monday.
The Mumbai weather bureau recorded 944,2ml of rainfall in the city in a 24-hour period ending mid-morning on Wednesday, the most rainfall ever recorded in a single day in India.
Weather officials have forecast more heavy rain for the city of 15-million, which since Thursday has been limping back to normal after being brought to a near-standstill earlier in the week. – Sapa-AFP