At least five people were killed and thousands displaced in floods driven by heavy rains in India's north-eastern state of Assam, officials said Wednesday, according to dpa. The victims, including four children, were killed on Tuesday night in separate incidents of drowning in the northern Sibasagar district. "They died while trying to flee floodwaters and make it to higher ground. The wooden rafts they were using capsized, resulting in the deaths," Assam government spokesman Dinesh Deka said. Officials said nearly 5,000 people were displaced in the floods and road traffic in Sibasagar was disrupted as large swathes of land were submerged. Officials at the National Disaster Management Cell of the Home Ministry said about 1,000 families in the affected areas were evacuated and boats had been pressed into service for rescue and relief operations. The state government said 42 people have been killed and nearly 7 million were affected in 6,000 villages during the monsoon floods this year. Since monsoon season began in June in India, 2,253 people were killed and 41 million affected, emergency officials said, pointing out that the floods have been more devastating this year compared to 2006, when about 1,000 people died.
