Torrential rains triggered landslides in India over the weekend, killing more than 50 people. The death toll is expected to rise as more than 20 people remain trapped under earth and rocks or are missing, Reuters reported on Monday.

Indian authorities are searching for survivors of powerful landslides in the state of Himachal PradeshPhoto: AFP / AFP / Profimedia

Unusually heavy rains and melting Himalayan glaciers have caused deadly floods in the mountains of India, Pakistan and Nepal over the past two years, with government officials increasingly blaming climate change.

PHOTO: Pradeep Kumar/AP/Profimedia

Television images from India’s Himachal Pradesh state showed houses destroyed by landslides and buses and cars on the edge of a cliff after roads collapsed and emergency workers scrambled to clear rubble to get people out.

“Tragedy has again befallen Himachal Pradesh with incessant rains for the last 48 hours,” state Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu said in a post on the messaging platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

More than 50 people died in rain-related incidents within 24 hours, Sukh told Indian news agency ANI, in which Reuters has a minority stake.

“This number may rise further as 20 people are still trapped,” he said.

Meanwhile, disaster management officials said 41 bodies had been recovered by Monday evening.

“Another 13 people are still missing, but as time goes on, we are losing hope that they will be brought out alive,” said state representative Praveen Bhardwaj.

According to the Prime Minister, in one of the deadliest incidents in the state capital, Shimla, a temple collapsed and rescuers pulled out at least nine bodies.

In the state of Himachal Pradesh, schools and other educational institutions were ordered to close, and people in vulnerable areas were moved to shelters.