Flood death toll worsens in Assam

The death toll from worsening monsoon floods in India's Assam state has hit 18 with hundreds of thousands in makeshift camps and no letup in the deluge, officials said yesterday.

"Monsoons are still ongoing. There are fresh developments every hour," Rajib Prakash Barua, a senior Assam State Disaster Management Authority official, told AFP as he confirmed the latest death on Wednesday.

The 18 people have died since the monsoons started in the northeastern state in April, said Barua, speaking from the state's main city Guwahati.