GUWAHATI (India) — Torrential monsoon rains in India’s north-east triggered landslides and floods that swept away and killed at least five people in Assam, disaster officials said today.

India’s annual monsoon season from June to September offers respite from intense summer heat and is crucial for replenishing water supplies, but also brings widespread death and destruction.

The deaths recorded are among the first of this season, with scores often killed over the course of the rains across India, a country of 1.4 billion people.

The monsoon is a colossal sea breeze that brings South Asia 70-80 per cent of its annual rainfall.

Rivers swollen by the lashing rain — including the mighty Brahmaputra and its tributaries — broke their banks across the region.

But the intensity of rain and floods has increased in recent years, with experts saying climate change is exacerbating the problem.

Assam State Disaster Management Authority officials on Saturday confirmed five deaths in the last 24 hours.