Monsoon rains take terrible toll in Asia

MORE than 1000 people have died across India, Bangladesh and Nepal following the worst monsoon floods to hit South Asia in more than a decade.

At least five people have been killed in India’s financial capital Mumbai, as heavy monsoon rain caused transport chaos and forced schools and many offices to close on Wednesday.

The coastal city of more than 20 million people is the latest to be hit by floods that have ravaged South Asia this monsoon season, affecting millions of people.

“Five people have died in the Mumbai floods. Four of them including two children died due to wall collapse in the slums and another person died due to electric shock,” a local government official said.

“We are monitoring the safety situation across the city and things are returning to normal.”

Cars were submerged and commuters waded through waist-deep water on Tuesday evening.

“I could not find any mode of transport and spent my night on the streets instead of trying to reach home,” said Gangadin Gupta, 62.

Many people had been left stranded for much of the night until the rail network reopened early on Wednesday.

India, Nepal and Bangladesh all suffer frequent flooding during the monsoon rains, which begin in June and last until September or October.

But the Red Cross has declared this year’s floods the worst in decades, reporting entire communities cut off and many short of food and clean water.

Bihar state has been particularly hard hit, with more than 500 people killed. Around 1.7 million people were reportedly affected by the floods.