At least 17 dead in Northeast India landslide

A landslide caused by heavy rains in Northeast India's hilly Mizoram state has claimed at least 17 lives, authorities said. The landslide struck over the weekend in the Laipuitlang area of the state capital of Aizawl, toppling a vacant public works department building that later fell on several homes below, the Press Trust of India news agency reported. As of Monday, rescuers had retrieved 17 bodies from the toppled homes, the report said. Five more people were rescued alive, the Indian Express newspaper reported. The rains and the steep terrain were hampering rescue work.