Rescuers are scouring India's tea-growing hill district of Darjeeling to find several missing people.

The search comes a day after landslides triggered by heavy downpours killed at least 24 people.

West Bengal state’s development minister Udayan Guha says teams of Indian army and disaster force rescuers are searching for the missing feared trapped under debris.

Downpours and road damage hampered efforts to reach several affected villages, officials said. Television news showed rescue workers using earth movers to clear the debris.

Landslides triggered by intense rains destroyed homes and infrastructure and left hundreds of tourists stranded in Darjeeling over the weekend.

Officials say downpours and road damage have hampered efforts to reach several villages.

India’s weather department has forecast heavy rainfall in the region until Tuesday.

Experts say human-caused climate change is intensifying South Asia’s monsoons, which traditionally run from June to September and again from October to December. The rains, once predictable, now arrive in erratic bursts that dump extreme amounts of water in short periods, followed by dry spells.