At least eight people were crushed to death overnight when heavy rains caused their homes in eastern India to collapse on top of them, taking the country's monsoon death toll to 113, police said Tuesday. Calcutta, the capital of West Bengal state, received 112 millimeters (4.41 inches) of rain Monday night causing flooding in low-lying parts of the city, the local meteorological office said. Seven people, including a family of six, were killed when the walls of their home collapsed in Mohazari, a village near Calcutta, said Raj Kanojia, the inspector-general of police. Another person died when a house collapsed in the city's Entally district, Kanojia told The Associated Press. Monsoon rains, which began a month ago, have also killed 63 people in Gujarat state and 42 in Maharashtra state _ both in the west of the country _ taking the total death toll in India to 113, officials said. More than 10,000 people have been evacuated from inundated villages in Gujarat and Maharashtra since Sunday, officials said. Heavy showers were also reported Monday night in Gujarat, where the army has been deployed to help with rescue and relief operations, said Kaushik Patel, a state official. The monsoon season in India runs from June to September. More than 800 people died last year, with most deaths blamed on drowning, landslides, house collapses or electrocution.
