Photos: Floods hit thousands in India's Assam

Army soldiers evacuate a flood-affected villager after heavy rains in the Hojai district of India's Assam state on May 19, 2022. At least ten people, including a four-year-old child, have died in floods and landslides this week after rains battered several parts of India, as forecasters warned on May 18 of more deluges.

More than 500,000 people have fled their homes in India's northeastern state of Assam to escape heavy floods triggered by pre-monsoon rains that drowned seven, authorities said on Wednesday, as they warned the situation could worsen. Above, army soldiers evacuate flood-affected villagers in the Hojai district of India's Assam state.

Villagers travel with their cattle on a boat through a flooded area after unusually heavy rains in Nagaon district, Assam state.

One of the world’s largest rivers, the Brahmaputra, which flows into India and neighbouring Bangladesh from Tibet, burst its banks in Assam over the last three days, inundating more than 1,500 villages.

A man carrying his bicycle crosses a damaged road due to flooding after heavy rains in Nagaon.

Train coaches are seen toppled over following mudslides triggered by heavy rains at New Haflong railway station on the Lumding-Silchar route at Dima Hasao district, in northeastern Assam state.

Torrential rains lashed most of the rugged state, and the downpour continued on Wednesday, with more forecast over the next two days.

“More than 500,000 people have been affected, with the flood situation turning critical by the hour,” Assam’s water resources minister, Pijush Hazarika, told Reuters, adding that the seven drowned in separate incidents during the last three days.

Soldiers of the Indian army retrieved more than 2,000 people trapped in the district of Hojai in a rescue effort that continues, the state’s health minister, Keshab Mahanta, said.

Water levels in the Brahmaputra were expected to rise further, national authorities said. Above, cracks appear on the road after it got damaged due to a landslide following heavy rainfall, in Dima Hasao.

People look at a damaged road due to flood waters after unusually heavy rains in Nagaon district, Assam state.

According to Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), the floods have hit 20 districts in the state and affected a population of nearly 200,000.

Villagers make their way on a raft past homes in a flooded area in the Nagaon district.