Heavy rains trigger flood fears in Kashmir; 17 dead

Heavy rains and alandslide in the Himalayan region of Kashmir killed 17 people,police said on Tuesday, as Indian authorities continued workingto rescue stranded villagers, with unseasonal rains raisingfears of flash floods in the mountainous north.

Fifteen peopele were killed when a hillside collapsed onto ahouse in Ledhan village, about 40 km (25 miles) from the capitalSrinagar, before dawn on Monday. Army and police used shovelsand diggers to search for those missing.

"We are still searching for one more person who is stillburied," said Fayaz Ahmad Lone, a local police superintendent.

Police said two other people died in flash floods in anotherpart of the state.

Hundreds of people fled their homes as Kashmir's main riversbegan to swell and weather forecasters predicted furtherdownpours in the region that was struck by devastating floodsseven months ago.

India is experiencing more extreme rainfall events as theglobal climate warms, according to a study of 50 years of databy the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology.

The past month has been the wettest in more than a century,and damage to crops has been blamed for a spate of farmersuicides in recent weeks.

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