A dog’s frantic barking in the middle of the night saved the lives of 67 people in a Himalayan village before a massive landslide swept away their homes.
Residents of Siyathi village in Mandi district, Himachal Pradesh, India, said their 5-month-old dog began barking around 1am on 30 June.
Heavy rains triggered a slope collapse that destroyed at least a dozen houses.
“I woke up from the barking,” a resident named Narendra told NDTV. “As I went to him, I saw a big crack in the wall of the house, and water had started to enter. I ran downstairs with the dog and woke everyone up.”
He ran from door to door to alert villagers.
Within minutes, mud and debris swallowed homes.
The monsoon landslide levelled the area, leaving only a few houses standing.
Survivors credited the dog, adopted just weeks earlier, with giving them time to escape.
The 67 people, from about 20 families, fled and are sheltering at the Naina Devi temple, NDTV reported.
The Himachal Pradesh government provided ₹10,000 (£100) in immediate relief per household.
The disaster is one of several caused by intense monsoon rain in the region.
Since 20 June, 78 people have died in Himachal Pradesh from rain-related incidents, including cloudbursts, flash floods and landslides, the state disaster management authority said.
At least 50 of those deaths were caused directly by weather events.
Mandi is among the worst-affected districts.
Officials recorded 19 cloudbursts and 16 landslides in just over two weeks.
More than 150 roads remain blocked and hundreds of homes are damaged or destroyed.
Chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said, “Never before have we witnessed 8-10 cloudbursts in a single night.”
Experts link the rising intensity of rainfall and extreme events to climate change.
Warmer air holds more moisture, which causes heavier downpours and raises flood and landslide risk in hilly regions.
Nearby countries have also faced heavy rain damage.
A flooded mountain river destroyed the main bridge linking Nepal with China, sweeping away at least 18 people and stopping trade.
China’s official Xinhua news agency said 11 people remained unaccounted for on the Chinese side.
Southwestern parts of China also braced for Typhoon Danas.
In Pakistan, at least 79 people have died in floods, landslides and house collapses since 26 June, the National Disaster Management Authority said.
Scientists warn that India’s Himalayan states remain especially vulnerable.
Infrastructure and terrain face growing pressure from development and shifting climate patterns.