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Heavy rain claims 7 lives in southern India

Xinhua, August 31, 2016 Adjust font size:

At least seven people were killed Wednesday in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad due to heavy rains, officials said.

The torrential rains on Wednesday morning lashed several parts of the city and brought life to a standstill.

"Four persons lost their lives when a wall of building collapsed in Ramanthapur area today, while as three others were killed in an old building collapse at Bolakpur in Musheerabad area," a local government official posted in Hyderabad said.

The downpour inundated several areas of the city and brought traffic to a grinding halt. Authorities in the city have declared a holiday for schools.

The Meteorological department officials said the city recorded a rainfall of 95.75 mm in two hours. The department has predicted more rains in the next 24 hours.

As the rains stopped locals said Municipal workers were seen wading through the water up to knee level to unclog the drains.

Heavy rains also hit Indian capital city of Delhi and outskirts of Gurgaon on Wednesday, triggering traffic snarls in wake of inundated roads.

Police warned people to be "patient and disciplined" and "stick to lanes".

The rains also caused delay in air traffic at Indira Gandhi international airport.

The downpour resulted in cancellation of visiting U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's visit to city's religious sites.

"Don't know how you all got here. You must've needed boats to get here," Kerry joked during his interaction with the students at IIT.

Kerry was scheduled to visit the Gauri Shankar temple, Jamia Masjid and Gurdwara Sisganj Sahib in the old Delhi but rains played spoilsport causing its cancellation.

On his arrival to New Delhi on Monday evening, Kerry was caught in rain-hit traffic.

The rains also delayed arrival of office goers in the city, some of them took to social media and shared images of clogged roads, traffic jams, besides complaining about poor visibility.

It took hours for police officials to declare roads were cleared for free movement of traffic. Endit