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Flash floods kill at least 71 people in India

Indian men make their way on a flooded street following heavy rain in Chennai on November 16, 2015. (Photo by AFP)

More than 70 people have reportedly lost their lives in India’s southern state of Tamil Nadu due to flooding caused by heavy rains.

Military helicopters on Tuesday were sent to rescue those trapped by waters in hard-hit areas across the state, which has witnessed incessant rains over the past week.

There has been no official figures on the number of those killed in the natural disaster so far, but media reports says the death toll stands at 71.

Indian people make their way in a canoe on a flooded street following heavy rain in Chennai on November 16, 2015. (Photo by AFP)

Over 7,000 people have so far been rescued, India’s National Disaster Management Authority announced, adding that rescue helicopters were dropping water, food and medicine to people stuck in the areas engulfed by floods.

Several lakes and reservoirs in the state capital Chennai and the nearby city of Kancheepuram breached their banks and swamped large areas.

According to the state-owned NDTV news channel, over 2,000 people were marooned in modern sky scrapers on the outskirts of Chennai.

Indian men carry an elderly woman on a flooded street following heavy rain in Chennai on November 16, 2015. (Photo by AFP)

“Cockroaches, snakes and other insects are entering the house as the water is not receding,” a woman interviewed by NDTV said, adding that “we are also worried about diseases.”

Although the downpours eased on Tuesday, authorities warned of more showers in the coming days.

The annual monsoon rains sustain India’s agriculture but also cause flooding that claims many lives and damages property.


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