Scores missing as India landslides kill 158

• Posted on July 31, 2024July 31, 2024
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

The death toll from the massive landslides that have hit the southern Indian state of Kerala has now crossed 158, with officials saying 187 people are still missing.

Rescue operations, that had halted late Tuesday night, resumed on Wednesday morning.

The landslides are the worst disaster to hit the state since 2018, when floods killed more than 400 people.

The Indian flag is flying at half mast at government buildings in the state as it observed two days of official mourning.

The disaster, which took place in Wayanad district’s Mundakkai and Chooralmala areas, “wiped out an entire area”, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told a press conference on Tuesday.

The district and its neighbouring regions are on alert for heavy rain on Wednesday. Schools and colleges are closed in 12 of the state’s 14 districts.

Joint rescue operations are being carried out by the army, navy and air force along with the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and teams of police and fire department.

More than 3,000 people have been rescued and moved to 45 relief camps.

On Tuesday evening, air force helicopters conducted search and rescue operations to evacuate people stranded on Mundakkai, which was cut off by a river because of the disaster.

Officials said a small team of rescue workers had managed to cross the river and reach the area.

“Until 10 pm [16:30GMT] last night, we had rescued 70 people, after which we had to stop because of bad weather and rain,” NDRF Commander Akhilesh Kumar told news agency ANI.

Rescue efforts have been hampered by heavy rains in the region.

In Chooralmala, the army said it had used ropes to cross the river, which is in spate, to assist and carry out rescue efforts.

Rescue teams plan to construct a temporary bridge across the river to reach people who are still stranded.

The landslides occurred around 02:00 India time on Tuesday [20:30 on Monday] in an area surrounded by tea and cardamom estates.

Mr Vijayan said the region was not known to be prone to landslides and sleeping villagers were caught off-guard, resulting in a high numbers of casualties.

Among those still missing are plantation workers and migrant labourers who lived here.

Rescue workers say they are looking under collapsed roofs and debris of destroyed houses for possible survivors.

A local man told news agency PTI that he saw mud-covered bodies in sitting positions on chairs and lying down on beds in one house.

Rahul Gandhi, leader of India’s opposition in the parliament and a former MP from Wayanad district, said his plans to visit the disaster-hit region had been cancelled after authorities warned him that “incessant rains and adverse weather conditions” would make it difficult for him to travel.

His Congress party had on Tuesday raised the disaster in parliament.

-BBC