DEHRADUN, India: Monsoon downpours caused flash floods that killed 13 people in India’s Himalayan foothills, officials said Friday, with helicopters rescuing hundreds stranded near a renowned Hindu shrine.
Flooding and landslides are common and cause widespread devastation during India’s treacherous monsoon season, but experts say climate change is increasing their frequency and severity.
Thirteen deaths have been reported across the northern state of Uttarakhand so far, disaster official Vinod Kumar Suman said.
District officials said around 700 people were rescued by airlift while traveling to Kedarnath temple, a popular pilgrimage destination dedicated to the Hindu deity Shiva.
“We are flying multiple choppers to bring down the pilgrims who were on their way,” Suman said.
The temple sits nearly 3,600 meters above sea level and access is only possible in the summer via a grueling 22-kilometer uphill trek.
It is thronged by thousands of pilgrims each year at a time when the annual monsoon downpours are at their peak.
Monsoon rains across the region from June to September offer respite from the summer heat and are crucial to replenishing water supplies.
They are also vital for agriculture, and therefore the livelihoods of millions of farmers and food security for South Asia’s nearly two billion people.
More than 200 people were killed in the southern state of Kerala this week when landslides hit villages and tea plantations, with search and rescue operations ongoing.
Two others were killed this week in neighboring Himachal Pradesh state, where rescuers are still searching for more than two dozen reported missing.
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13 killed in India floods, stranded pilgrims airlifted
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13 killed in India floods, stranded pilgrims airlifted
- Flooding and landslides are common and cause widespread devastation during India’s treacherous monsoon season
- District officials say around 700 people were rescued by airlift while traveling to Kedarnath temple
US military plane hits road barrier during Philippine training, injuring 5 personnel
- A United States military plane carrying five US personnel has hit a concrete fence while attempting to take off from a road during contingency training drill in a northern Philippine province
MANILA: A United States military plane hit a concrete barrier while attempting to take off from a road during contingency training in the Philippines, injuring all five American personnel aboard, Philippine officials said Wednesday.
The pilot and two other American personnel were brought to a hospital for treatment after Tuesday afternoon’s incident in a concrete bypass road in Laoac town in the northern Pangasinan province. Two other injured personnel were treated at the site and the US Air Force transport plane was damaged, police said in a report.
US military officials did not immediately respond to an Associated Press request for more details about the incident, including the condition of the injured personnel.
The training, involving the plane landing on and taking off from an “alternate landing zone,” was planned and fully coordinated with Philippine civilian, police and military authorities, three Philippine officials said. The training was meant to prepare military forces for contingencies, such as when regular airports and runways become inaccessible during typhoons and earthquakes.
The three officials, who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the accident publicly, said the cause of the accident was under investigation. The aircraft managed to land during the “supervised activity,” but swerved during takeoff, one of the three officials said.
The US military had deployed aircraft and personnel in the past to help deliver food, medicine and other humanitarian aid to Philippine provinces devastated by typhoons and other natural disasters.
US forces are allowed to conduct training with Filipino counterparts in the Philippines under a 1999 Visiting Forces Agreement. Large-scale joint combat training drills in recent years have focused on helping the Philippines defend its territorial interests and promote freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea, which lies west of Pangasinan.
Confrontations between the coast guard and naval forces of China and the Philippines have flared in recent years in the disputed waters, which is claimed largely by Beijing. Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan are also involved in the long-simmering territorial standoffs.
The US does not lay any claims in the contested waters but has repeatedly warned that it’s obligated to defend the Philippines under a mutual defense treaty if Philippine forces, ships and aircraft come under an armed attack, including in the South China Sea.
The pilot and two other American personnel were brought to a hospital for treatment after Tuesday afternoon’s incident in a concrete bypass road in Laoac town in the northern Pangasinan province. Two other injured personnel were treated at the site and the US Air Force transport plane was damaged, police said in a report.
US military officials did not immediately respond to an Associated Press request for more details about the incident, including the condition of the injured personnel.
The training, involving the plane landing on and taking off from an “alternate landing zone,” was planned and fully coordinated with Philippine civilian, police and military authorities, three Philippine officials said. The training was meant to prepare military forces for contingencies, such as when regular airports and runways become inaccessible during typhoons and earthquakes.
The three officials, who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the accident publicly, said the cause of the accident was under investigation. The aircraft managed to land during the “supervised activity,” but swerved during takeoff, one of the three officials said.
The US military had deployed aircraft and personnel in the past to help deliver food, medicine and other humanitarian aid to Philippine provinces devastated by typhoons and other natural disasters.
US forces are allowed to conduct training with Filipino counterparts in the Philippines under a 1999 Visiting Forces Agreement. Large-scale joint combat training drills in recent years have focused on helping the Philippines defend its territorial interests and promote freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea, which lies west of Pangasinan.
Confrontations between the coast guard and naval forces of China and the Philippines have flared in recent years in the disputed waters, which is claimed largely by Beijing. Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan are also involved in the long-simmering territorial standoffs.
The US does not lay any claims in the contested waters but has repeatedly warned that it’s obligated to defend the Philippines under a mutual defense treaty if Philippine forces, ships and aircraft come under an armed attack, including in the South China Sea.
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