Mudslides triggered by heavy rains kill 8 in northeast India

NEW DELHI – Landslides triggered by heavy rain on Friday have killed at least eight people in India’s remote northeast, a top government official said.

They included four members of a family who were buried under a mudslide in Tigado, a village in Arunachal Pradesh state, said Pema Khandu, the state’s top elected official, in a tweet.

A mudslide killed another four people in Modirijo, another village in the state, Khandu said.

Hundreds of people hit by the heavy rains are being transferred to government-run relief camps, he said. Other details were not immediately available.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was saddened by the loss of lives due to the heavy monsoon rain as well as landslides in Arunachal Pradesh.

India’s monsoon season began last month and is due to last through September. Hundreds of people die every year because of flooding, mudslides and collapsing homes.