Millions urged to stay off streets as monsoon death toll rises

POLICE urged millions of Bombay residents to stay off the streets as heavy rains brought more flooding to India’s financial hub yesterday. Relief officials said the death toll in the region could reach 1,000.

Dead bodies and carcasses of animals were still strewn across parts of Bombay and its suburbs from last week’s flooding, raising fears of disease, TV and officials said.

Relief commissioner Krishna Vatsa said: “I hope there is no epidemic.”