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Countrywide toll taken by heavy rain rises to 281

Rains continued to lash parts of Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Kerala and Bihar as the toll in house collapses, landslides and floods across the country rose to 281.

Five persons, including a boy, were killed in roof and wall collapses in Andhra Pradesh following heavy rains in the last 24 hours. A girl was seriously injured.

Four members of a family were killed and a girl was seriously injured when the roof of their house collapsed at Kondapur village in Mahbubnagar district. In another incident, a boy was killed when a wall fell on him in the old city of Hyderabad.

In Guwahati, at least nine persons, including two women and a child, were killed last night in a rain-triggered landslide in the Bhaskar Nagar area, police said. Six persons were injured.

In Bihar, the toll in rain-related incidents rose to 133 as the flood situation worsened. Two more deaths were reported from Khagaria district today.

Sources in the state flood-control cell said the threat to Patna district has increased following the rise in the level of the Punpun river. The river is flowing above the danger mark at Shripalpur by 139cm and is expected to rise another 11cm by Sunday morning.

Floodwaters from the Burhi Gandak have inundated more areas in east Champaran district following a breach in the river's right embankment.

A Darbhanga report quoting Divisional Commissioner Girish Shanker said the water had submerged 695 villages affecting a population of more than 50,000.

Central Water Commission sources said the Bagmati is also flowing above the danger mark at Hayaghat and Benibad by 118 and 43cm, respectively.

They said the Adhwara group of rivers crossed the red mark at Ekmighat by 70cm. The Kosi is overflowing the danger mark at Baltara by 111cm while it has also crossed the red mark at Basua.

One person was drowned in Kerala today, taking the toll in the state to 74. According to official sources, a 42-year-old man of Kudilu village in Kasargod district drowned when he fell into a river. His body was fished out later.

But the south-west monsoon lashing the hilly districts of Idukki, Kasargod and Wynad over the past few days subsided somewhat. As many as 54 families are still placed in six relief camps across the state. The sources said 110 people have been injured in monsoon-related incidents during the past two months.

The toll in Gujarat has risen to 35 with one death being reported in the past 24 hours. A woman of Rajpipla town of Nadol block in Narmada district was drowned in a rivulet, the flood control room in Ahmedabad said.

UNI

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