New Delhi —�� At least 45 people were killed after a landslide swept away two buses in India’s northern state of Himachal Pradesh.

The landslide, triggered by heavy monsoon rains, engulfed the buses and some vehicles on a highway in the hilly Mandi district early Sunday, senior district official Sandeep Kadam said.

Five people were rescued, said Anshul Gupta, an official at the disaster control room in Mandi.

Police said the buses were parked on the highway, where some passengers had gone out for snacks, just before the landslide. It swept the buses 2,600 feet into a gorge and buried one of the vehicles completely. Rescue teams completed the search of one bus, but the second bus was challenging because it was buried under several feet of mud, Kadam said.

Gupta said the bus was estimated to be carrying between 40 and 50 passengers. The bodies of 42 passengers from this bus were found.

Several small homes were also washed away in the heavy rains that hit the region in the past few days.

India’s monsoon season usually lasts from June to September.

The torrential rains routinely exact a heavy toll, causing floods, landslides, house collapses and crop destruction.