As rain fury continued to wreak havoc in Himachal Pradesh, seven people were swept away in flash floods in the Mandi district on Monday. Police and disaster management teams launched rescue operations in the area and efforts to trace the victims, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said.

The chief minister shared a video clip from the Sambal village in Mandi district on X (formerly Twitter) and said, “Disturbing visuals have emerged from Sambhal, Pandoh – District Mandi, where, as reported, seven individuals have been swept away by flash floods today.”

Also Read: Uttarakhand on red alert as incessant rainfall triggers landslides, Ganga breaches danger mark

The video shows water gushing downhill with great force, and the person behind the camera could be heard repeatedly saying “oh God” in a distressed tone.

Earlier, 16 people were killed in two separate incidents related to heavy rains in Himachal Pradesh. Seven people died after a cloudburst incident in the Solan district last night, while nine others were killed in a landslide at a Shiv Temple in Summer Hill area of Shimla city.

Also Read: 9 dead as temple collapses in rain-hit Shimla, several feared trapped

15 to 20 more people are feared buried in two landslides in Shimla city, Deputy Commissioner of Shimla Aditya Negi told news agency PTI. The other site is in the Fagli area, where several houses were buried under mud and slush.

Himachal CM has appealed to the people to stay indoors and avoid going near drains or rivers. While talking to the media, he also asked people to “move away from landslide-prone areas” and requested tourists “not to visit the state during this crisis”.

According to the state emergency operation centre, 752 roads were closed in the state because of the calamity.

Also Read: 7 killed in cloudburst at Himachal Pradesh’s Solan, houses washed away, roads blocked

The heavy rains in Himachal Pradesh, and neighbouring Uttarakhand, are due to a fresh spell of Western Disturbance, the Indian Meteorological Department said on Monday.

“The location of the Monsoon trough lies along the foothills of the Himalayas, and hence the South-westerly Arabian Sea monsoonal winds are hitting the Himalayan foothills,” the weather department said.

Himachal Pradesh has been the worst affected state in the country due to the floods and landslides with officials announcing on Sunday a staggering loss of Rs 7020.28 crore due to the monsoon’s devastating impact.