Fourteen feared dead in monsoon mudslides

Fourteen people are feared dead after a massive mudslide triggered by heavy monsoon rains swept into a village in remote northeast India, officials said.

Police officer Tumme Amor said the mudslide quickly buried at least six homes in Laptap village in Arunachal Pradesh state, giving occupants little time to escape.

The state’s top elected official Pema Khandu said five bodies have been recovered so far in the village in Papumpare district and relief camps have been set up for people evacuated from the mudslide-prone hilly areas.

Mr Khandu tweeted that the heavy rains have disrupted road transport as well as water supplies and electricity in the state capital Aizawl and other parts of the state.

Flooding and landslides in another north-eastern state, Assam, have killed at least 28 people since midjune.

Around 500,000 people have fled their homes in 800 villages across nearly half of Assam’s 27 districts, officials said.