63 dead, hundreds feared trapped in India landslides

TRİVANDRUM

Landslides in southern India killed at least 63 people on Tuesday, the office of Kerala state revenue minister K. Rajan told reporters.

Rajan's office added that another 116 people had been injured in the landslides, which struck Wayanad district early yesterday morning.

The southern coastal state of Kerala has been battered by torrential downpours, and the collapse of a key bridge at the disaster site in Wayanad district has hampered rescue efforts, according to local media reports.

Images published by the National Disaster Response Force show rescue crews trudging through mud to search for survivors and carry bodies on stretchers out of the area.

Homes were caked with brown sludge as the force of the landslide's impact scattered cars, corrugated iron and other debris around the disaster site.

India's army said it had deployed more than 200 soldiers to the area to assist state security forces and fire crews in search and rescue efforts.

"Hundreds of people are suspected to have been trapped," it said in a statement.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he had assured the Kerala government of "all possible help" with the situation.

"My thoughts are with all those who have lost their loved ones and prayers with those injured," he said in a post on social media platform X.

His office said families of victims would be given a compensation payment of $2,400 (200,000 rupees).

Monsoon rains across the region from June to September are vital for agriculture and therefore the livelihoods of millions of farmers and food security for South Asia's nearly 2 billion people.

But they also bring destruction in the form of landslides and floods.