18 kids killed as Indian school collapses
At least 18 children died yesterday when a school collapsed after heavy rains in northern India as the region's monsoon wreaked more havoc.
An unknown number of others were missing after the single-storey school toppled in mountainous Uttarakhand state's Bageshwar district, one of several populated areas near the Indian border with Tibet, a minister told AFP.
"Eighteen bodies of children have been brought out so far from the debris and a search is on for more and we fear the toll could go up further," state Disaster Management Minister Khajan Dass told AFP in Dehradun.
The victims were aged between five and 12 years, rescuers said.
Heavy rains have caused devastation in parts of Asia over the last month, with thousands dead in China and neighbouring Pakistan, where floods have caused the nation's worst natural disaster.
A cloudburst 12 days ago in the northern Indian region of Ladakh killed 189 people, with another 400 missing. Six foreign trekkers also died in the popular high-altitude tourist destination.
Local people at the site of the disaster reached by telephone from Dehradun said that at least 35 students and up to six teachers and staff were in the building when it collapsed.
"A massive rescue operation is under way," Dass added, as hundreds of paramilitary troopers were rushed to the disaster site in Sumgarh town, some 450 kilometres (279 miles) from state capital of Dehradun.
Piyush Rautela, who heads Uttarakhand's disaster management agency, said six children had been plucked alive from the debris. Other houses in the area have also collapsed, causing an unknown number of casualties, he added.
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