At least 50 people have died in a series of landslides triggered by heavy rains in southern India, local officials have said.
More than 70 others have been injured, Kerala’s state health minister Veena George said, and many more are likely to have been carried away in the overflowing Chaliyar river, according to the Indian Express.
The landslides hit hilly villages in the Wayanad district in the Western Ghats mountain range in the state of Kerala early on Tuesday, destroying many houses and a bridge, leaving the area unreachable by road.
PM Manoj, the press secretary to the Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, said: “More than 50 dead bodies have been found but it is difficult to establish a proper count as many body parts have been spotted in the river.”
Earlier, local news channel Asianet News said as many as 41 people died as pictures showed rescue workers battling their way through rocks and uprooted trees to reach those stranded as muddy water gushed through the affected area, home to around 350 families mostly living on tea and cardamom estates.
Ms George said: “We are trying every way to rescue our people.”
Those efforts included pulling out people stuck under mud and debris, but rescue teams were hampered by blocked roads, unstable terrain and the collapse of a bridge linking Wayanad to Chooralmala, the nearest town.
One man was seen struggling to free himself after being stuck in chest-high mud for hours, until rescue workers finally reached him.
Two Indian Air Force helicopters have been mobilised and the Indian army has been called in to build a temporary bridge to replace the one destroyed by floodwaters, state forest minister AK Saseendran said, adding: “The situation is serious. The government has pressed all agencies into rescue.”
Rescuers at work. Pic: NDRF/AP
Local man Rashid Padikkalparamban, who has helped the relief efforts, said there were at least three landslides in the area starting around midnight, which washed away the bridge connecting the affected area, the Mundakkai estates, to Chooralmala.
Mr Padikkalparamban said: “Many people who were working in the estates and staying in makeshift tents inside are feared trapped or missing.”
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on X he was “distressed by the landslides”, adding: “My thoughts are with all those who have lost their loved ones and prayers with those injured.”
Rescuers help residents to move to a safer place. Pic: Reuters
Mr Modi announced compensation of more than £1,850 to the victims’ families.
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Kerala is prone to heavy rain and flooding, with nearly 500 people killed in one of the worst floods in 2018.
India’s weather department has put Kerala on alert as the state has been lashed by incessant rain and is forecast through Tuesday.
India regularly has severe floods during the monsoon season, which runs between June and September.
Scientists say monsoons are becoming more erratic because of climate change and global warming.