Heavy monsoon rains kill 58 in India, bus fell into gorge, 33 fread dead

At least 58 people have been killed in the past two days as monsoon rains triggered house collapses and flooded wide swaths of land in northern India, officials said on Saturday.
Weather officials predicted more rain in the next 48 hours in India's most populous state of Uttar Pradesh.
The deaths occurred since rains started on Thursday night, said government spokesman Awanish Awasthi. Ten of the victims died in Meerut district.
In Agra, the northern Indian city where the white marble Taj Mahal is located, at least six died, including four members of a family who perished in a house collapse, Awasthi said.
He said the dead included women and children.
Officials said at least 53 people were injured and over 200 houses were damaged in the torrential rains. Rains also damaged an outer boundary wall of the 16th century Fatehpur Sikri fort. However, there was no harm to the main monument and to human life, said another official, P.K. Singh.
Singh said authorities closed schools Saturday in the area as the weather department issued an alert for more rains.
India's monsoon season usually lasts until October.

Bus falls into gorge in Maharashtra; 33 feared dead

More than 30 people were feared dead after a bus fell into a deep gorge in western India, an official said.
The bus was carrying 34 employees of an agriculture university when it plunged off a mountain road while negotiating a curve in Raigad district of Maharashtra state, said civil administrator Vijay Suryawanshi. He said the bus fell into a deep, forested gorge.
One man survived as he jumped out of the bus and later scaled onto the road to inform university officials about the accident, Suryawanshi said.
He said the employees were on a private picnic.
Rescue teams had so far recovered nearly a dozen bodies amid intermittent rains in the area. India has the world's deadliest roads, with more than 110,000 people killed annually. Most crashes are blamed on reckless driving, poorly maintained roads and aging vehicles.
Heavy monsoon rains that sparked floods and caused buildings to collapse have killed at least 58 people in north India's Uttar Pradesh state since Thursday officials said, as the national weather agency issued further storm warnings.
Some of the victims died after they were buried by collapsing buildings, while others were drowned, electrocuted or killed in traffic accidents caused by the rain, disaster management officials said. With scores of houses damaged, authorities in Uttar Pradesh - home to some 220 million people - were on high alert and called for all buildings at risk to be vacated. The torrential rains have also hit New Delhi and the western state of Rajasthan that is popular with tourists, where 11 centimetres (4.3 inches) of rain was reported in 24 hours in Bharatpur district Friday.
New Delhi's Yamuna river crossed the danger mark of 204 metres by one metre on Saturday leading the authorities to issue an alert.
The water level in the river is expected to rise further, Delhi government said.
Building collapses are common across India, especially during the monsoon season from late June to September.
The meteorological office has warned of heavy rainfall across much of northern India for the next five days.With scores of houses damaged, authorities in Uttar Pradesh — home to some 220 million people — were on high alert and called for all buildings at risk to be vacated.
The torrential rains have also hit New Delhi and the western state of Rajasthan that is popular with tourists, where 11 centimeters (4.3 inches) of rain was reported in 24 hours in Bharatpur district Friday.
New Delhi’s Yamuna river crossed the danger mark of 204 meters by one meter on Saturday leading the authorities to issue an alert. The water level in the river is expected to rise further, Delhi government said.
Building collapses are common across India, especially during the monsoon season from late June to September.
The meteorological office has warned of heavy rainfall across much of northern India for the next five days.
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