NEW DELHI, Aug 1, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Heavy monsoon downpours in India's Himalayan foothills triggered flash floods that killed two people, officials said Thursday, with the hunt on for around 28 others still missing.

Fatal floods and landslides are common across India during the annual monsoon but experts say climate change is increasing their frequency, intensity and unpredictability.

Rescue crews worked through the night at two flood sites in the northern state of Himachal Pradesh.

Mandi district official Madan Kumar told AFP that rescuers had recovered two bodies.

"One other person is seriously injured and eight people are missing," said Kumar.

"Several houses have been damaged."

In neighbouring Shimla district, a popular tourist destination in India's rugged north, local official Abhishek Verma said rescue crews were searching for around 20 more people believed missing.

Landslides and flash floods killed more than 70 people in the state last year, also washing away arterial roads that left thousands stranded.

Monsoon rains across the region from June to September offer respite from the summer heat and are crucial to replenishing water supplies.

They are vital for agriculture -- and therefore the livelihoods of millions of farmers and food security for South Asia's nearly two billion people -- but also bring regular destruction.

At least 176 people were killed in the southern state of Kerala this week when landslides hit villages and tea plantations, with search and rescue operations ongoing.

"India will continue to see more and more of these kinds of impacts in the future," Kartiki Negi of the Indian environment think tank Climate Trends told AFP this week.