RESCUERS were scouring India’s north-eastern tea-growing hill district of Darjeeling today for missing people a day after landslides triggered by heavy downpours killed at least 24, officials said.

Teams of Indian army and disaster force rescuers were searching for the missing who are feared trapped under mounds of debris, said, West Bengal state development minister Udayan Guha.

Downpours and road damage hampered efforts to reach several affected villages, officials said. Television news showed rescue workers using earth movers to clear the debris.

Landslides triggered by intense rains destroyed homes and infrastructure and left hundreds of tourists stranded in Darjeeling over the weekend.

Rainfall also caused two iron bridges to collapse, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said in a post on X.

India’s weather department forecast heavy rainfall in the region until Tuesday.

Cloudbursts, floods and landslides have caused significant loss of life and property in recent months across India. Flash floods swept away an entire village in the northern state of Uttarakhand in August.

On Sunday, at least 44 people were killed in Nepal due to mudslides and flooding triggered by severe rainfall.

Experts say human-caused climate change is intensifying south Asia’s monsoons, which traditionally run from June to September and again from October to December.