At least 15 people were killed and more than 50 missing Saturday after heavy rains triggered a landslide in the northern Indian hill state of Uttarakhand, news reports said, according to dpa. Many of the missing were feared trapped in debris in at least three villages in Pithoragarh district, about 450 kilometres west of state capital Dehradun, IANS and PTI news agencies reported. "So far we have taken out 15 bodies from Bala village," IANS quoted an Indo-Tibetan Border Police official as saying. The heavy rains had also washed away several houses in Lar and Jhegla villages where at least 30 people were feared trapped. Altogether more than 50 people were unaccounted for, police said. Medical and rescue teams had been rushed to the area which borders Nepal but operations were being hampered by bad weather, officials said.
