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Mumbai Floods Kill 5


People walk through a waterlogged street following heavy rains in Mumbai, India, Aug. 29, 2017.
People walk through a waterlogged street following heavy rains in Mumbai, India, Aug. 29, 2017.

At least five people have died in flooding caused by monsoons in India's financial capital Mumbai, government officials said Wednesday.

Torrential rains brought the city to a halt Tuesday, making roads impassable and briefly shutting the suburban rail network used by millions of commuters. Thousands were stranded in their offices overnight.

Trains were mostly running at full function by Tuesday evening, but traffic remained chaotic and offices and schools were largely closed on Wednesday.

With a population of over 20 million, the coastal city of Mumbai is the latest to be hit by floods which have killed over 1,200 people this summer across India, Nepal, and Bangladesh.

Rains in Mumbai had eased by Wednesday, but meteorologists warn that they may resume in the next 48 hours.

Photos and videos showed cars submerged in water and people wading waist-deep around the city. Residents of Dharavi, one of the continent's biggest slums and home to over a million people, said much of the area was under water.

A number of flights were forced to divert to other cities Tuesday as even the airport was affected by flooding.

The city of Mumbai struggles each year to plan for and cope with annual rains during monsoon season, which runs from June through September.

In 2005, over 1,000 people were killed when around 950 millimeters of rain fell in less than 24 hours.

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