The strongest rain ever recorded in India shut down the financial hub Bombay, snapped communication lines, closed airports and stranded thousands of people, officials said Wednesday. At least 71 people were killed and another 130 were feared buried in landslides, according to police and news reports. Troops were deployed after the sudden rains _ measuring up to 94.4 centimeters (37.1 inches) in one day in suburban Bombay, the capital of Maharashtra state _ stranded tens of thousands of people. "Most places in India don't receive this kind of rainfall in a year. This is the highest ever recorded in India's history," R.V. Sharma, director of the meteorological department in Bombay, told The Associated Press. "We have to compare it with world records to find out if this was the highest in the world." At least 62 people died in Maharashtra and southern Kerala state in weather-related tragedies on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the death toll stood at 71, with police and news reports saying at least nine people drowned after being trapped in cars or crushed by falling walls. The deaths included two boys who died in overflowing sewage lines in a Bombay suburb. --MORE 1133 Local Time 0833 GMT
