Monsoon Rains Collapse India Houses

LUCKNOW, India (AP) -- At least 58 people have been killed in the past two days as monsoon rains triggered house collapses and flooded wide swaths of land in northern India, officials said Saturday.

Weather officials predicted more rain in the next 48 hours in India's most populous state of Uttar Pradesh.

The deaths occurred since rains started on Thursday night, said government spokesman Awanish Awasthi. Ten of the victims died in Meerut district. In Agra, the northern Indian city where the white marble Taj Mahal is located, at least six died, including four members of a family who perished in a house collapse, Awasthi said.

He said the dead included women and children.

Officials said at least 53 people were injured and over 200 houses were damaged in the torrential rains.

Rains also damaged an outer boundary wall of the 16th century Fatehpur Sikri fort. However, there was no harm to the main monument and to human life, said another official, P.K. Singh.

Singh said authorities closed schools Saturday in the area as the weather department issued an alert for more rains.

India's monsoon season usually lasts until October.

(KA)