Torrents of water rushing downstream from the Himalayas have claimed at least 20 lives in India and Bangladesh as a result of floods and landslides, government disaster officials said.
Following the devastating floods in Nepal this month, which killed at least 225 people, the water added to already swollen rivers in India and Bangladesh.
Deadly floods and landslides are common across South Asia during the monsoon season from June to September, but experts say climate change is making them worse.
In the northeastern Indian state of Meghalaya, "incessant floods and landslides triggered by the rains" have caused huge destruction, the chief minister's office said.
"We are saddened to report that the death toll in the landslides and floods in Garo Hills region has risen to 15," the statement said, with the death toll recorded since Friday.
Among the dead were a teacher and his son who drowned when floodwaters carried away their car.
In neighbouring Bangladesh - a low-lying state with large areas made up of deltas where the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers flow into the sea - five people have died since Saturday, the disaster management ministry said.
It added that at least 20,000 people have been forced to flee their homes, but the water level is starting to drop.
"The waters have started receding... excessive rains and water from the upper reaches of the river caused this flooding," said disaster ministry official Nazmul Abedin. | BGNES
