Eighteen people have died and several more have been injured after a landslide hit a bus in the Bilaspur District of Himachal Pradesh, India, on Tuesday 7 October 2025. The incident happened at about 6.30 pm local time, with a large section of the side of a hill giving way following days of heavy rain, and sweeping the bus, which held between 30 and 35 people at the time, from the road. Landslides are a common problem after severe weather, as excess pore water pressure can overcome cohesion in soil and sediments, allowing them to flow like liquids. Approximately 90% of all landslides are caused by heavy rainfall.
Mountainous areas of Himachal Pradesh (which is most of the state) are notoriously prone to landslides, particularly during the monsoon season, which typically lasts from July to September, when very high rainfall levels can trigger many such events. Years such as this year, in which the monsoon lasts longer, are particularly dangerous, as the ground will have become waterlogged, and unable to absorb any more rain, leading to an increased risk of landslide and flood events. Sadly, while late rains were once a rare event, they are becoming more common as a result of global warming, which is resulting in a hotter, wetter climate in the region.
Monsoons are tropical sea breezes triggered by heating of the land during the warmer part of the year (summer). Both the land and sea are warmed by the Sun, but the land has a lower ability to absorb heat, radiating it back so that the air above landmasses becomes significantly warmer than that over the sea, causing the air above the land to rise and drawing in water from over the sea; since this has also been warmed it carries a high evaporated water content, and brings with it heavy rainfall.
In the tropical dry season, the situation is reversed, as the air over the land cools more rapidly with the seasons, leading to warmer air over the sea, and thus breezes moving from the shore to the sea (where air is rising more rapidly) and a drying of the climate. This situation is particularly intense in South Asia, due to the presence of the Himalayas. High mountain ranges tend to force winds hitting them upwards, which amplifies the South Asian Summer Monsoon, with higher winds leading to more upward air movement, thus drawing in further air from the sea.
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