Flash flooding leaves 40 dead in northern India

A motorcyclist tries to drive past mud and debris after a landslide hit a road in Dharmsala, Himachal Pradesh state (Ashwini Bhatia/AP)

At least 40 people have died and several are missing in flash floods triggered by intense monsoon rains in northern India over the past three days.

The rains inundated hundreds of villages, swept away mud houses, flooded roads and destroyed bridges in some parts of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand states.