Floods kill 27, displace 900,000 in northeast India

At least 27 people have died and 900,000 others have been forced to leave their homes as monsoon rains swamp wide areas of the northeastern Indian state of Assam, officials said on Thursday. A state government spokesman said 21 of Assam's 27 districts were hit by flash floods which began last weekend as the rains lashed the tea and oil-rich Indian state. "So far, 27 people have died in separate incidents including five who were killed when their boat sank," Assam Agriculture Minister Nilamoni Sen Deka told AFP in Guwahati, the state's largest city. He also said the Brahmaputra river was overflowing its banks in many places. Deka said an estimated 900,000 people had been displaced from their homes due to the flooding.