Torrential rains in India’s Himalayas triggered landslides over the weekend that have resulted in the deaths of at least 41 people, with more than 12 others trapped or missing, officials said today.

Unusually heavy rainfall and melting glaciers caused deadly flash floods in the mountains of India and neighboring Pakistan and Nepal last year and two years ago, with government officials increasingly blaming climate change.

TV footage from India’s Himachal Pradesh state shows houses flattened by landslides, buses and cars hanging on the edge of cliffs after the road gave way and hundreds of people in shelters as emergency workers struggle to clear the rubble.

“Another tragedy has struck Himachal Pradesh with rain falling incessantly for the past 48 hours,” the state’s chief minister, Sukhwinder Singh, said in a post on the X platform, formerly Twitter.

“Reports of downpours and landslides have come in from various parts of the state resulting in loss of precious lives and property.”

At least 41 people have died in rain-related incidents since Sunday, and 13 are still missing, according to a report by the state’s disaster management department seen by Reuters.

In one of the deadliest incidents, a temple collapsed in the state capital of Simia, with rescuers recovering at least nine bodies, the state’s chief minister said.

Television footage showed swollen rivers overflowing in Himachal state and neighboring Uttarakhand, where record rainfall also damaged roads and infrastructure.

The India Meteorological Department has today issued a “red alert” for both Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand and is forecasting a reduction in rainfall intensity from Tuesday onwards.

Parts of Himachal and Uttarakhand received up to 273 and 419 millimeters of rain in 24 hours until 6.00am. (Greece time) today, the Meteorological Service reported.

Schools and other educational institutions were ordered to close and people at risk were safely moved to hostelsstate officials said.

Uttarakhand state authorities announced that the Char Dham pilgrimage route will remain closed until Tuesday due to landslides.

“This is the first time we are seeing multiple downpours and widespread damage in Himachal Pradesh,” state disaster management official Pravin Panrtwaj said.

In Solan sector, houses collapsed, killing at least seven people, while a mother and her child were killed in Mandi sector when their house collapsed, Panrtwaj said.