At least eight people, including women and children, were killed after multiple landslides triggered by torrential monsoon rains struck Mon district in India's northeastern state of Nagaland on Sunday, authorities said.

District officials said the landslides began at around 6:00 a.m. local time, following hours of relentless rainfall, and continued throughout the day, causing widespread destruction across several parts of the district. Emergency responders, police, disaster management personnel, and local volunteers were deployed to carry out search-and-rescue operations in the affected areas.

Mon District Deputy Commissioner Wennyei Konyak confirmed that four bodies had been recovered, while efforts were ongoing to retrieve four more victims believed to be buried under the debris. More than 15 people were injured, with the wounded taken to nearby hospitals for treatment.

"Heavily intensified rainfall triggered the landslides. It has been many years since this part of Nagaland experienced such an extreme weather event," Konyak said, adding that more than 40 houses were swept away or severely damaged. Authorities are continuing to assess the full extent of the destruction to homes, roads, and other public infrastructure.

Rescue operations remained underway late Sunday, with excavators and emergency teams working through unstable terrain amid continuing rainfall. Officials warned that saturated hillsides could trigger additional landslides, complicating rescue efforts and posing further risks to residents.

The disaster also disrupted road connectivity in parts of the district, while reports of flooding and weather-related damage emerged from other areas of Nagaland as persistent monsoon rains battered the state. Authorities have urged residents living in landslide-prone regions to remain alert and evacuate vulnerable locations if necessary. Nagaland is particularly vulnerable to landslides during the annual monsoon season due to its mountainous terrain and intense rainfall. State disaster management authorities had reviewed emergency preparedness ahead of the monsoon, identifying landslides and flooding as major seasonal hazards. (ILKHA)