Nine more people died in rain-related incidents in Assam on Tuesday, taking the toll in the floods to 59. Twenty-six people have died in landslides so far, taking the overall toll, as a result of floods and landslides since May, to 85.

The nine deaths were reported from Biswanath (one), Barpeta (two), Golaghat (one), Dibrugarh (three) and Tinsukia (two) districts of the state, according to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority’s daily flood report. Barpeta district was the worst-hit, with more than 5.5 lakh affected people. This was followed by Dhubri (4.11 lakh affected people), Morigaon (4.08 lakh) and South Salmara (2.25 lakh) districts.

Nearly 33 lakh people have so far been affected in 3,371 villages of 28 districts, the state disaster management authority said. As many as 44,108 people were taking refuge in 517 relief camps across 24 districts of the state. The flood waters have submerged more than 1.28 lakh hectares of cropland.

According to the bulletin, as of Tuesday evening, major rivers such as Brahmaputra, Dhansiri, Burhidihing, Jia Bharali, Beki, Kopili, Sankosh, and Kushiyara were in a spate and flowing above the danger levels. Floodwaters have breached river embankments and damaged several bridges and roads in the state.

Journalist attacked

A video journalist from a private news channel, Baskar Rajkhowa, was on Tuesday attacked by a rhino that strayed out of the Kaziranga National Park, according to The Sentinel. The animal reportedly charged the journalist while he was filming the rhino, which had taken shelter at the Hatikhuli tea estate. He was grievously injured and is undergoing treatment.

The rhino had strayed outside the park as 95% of the part and the Tiger Reserve were under water as of Wednesday. Fifty-one animals died at the Kaziranga National Park, the state’s bulletin said, adding that 173 out of the 223 anti-poaching camps are underwater, while 14 have been evacuated. As many as 102 animals have been rescued so far.

“You can say the entire park is under water,” the park’s director P Sivakumar told The New Indian Express. “A whole lot of animals, mostly elephants and deer, have moved to the neighbouring hills in Karbi Anglong.”

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Scenes of floods wreaking havoc across Assam, affecting lakhs of residents