Local media reports indicate that landslides killed at least 51 people and injured scores more in the hills of India’s southern Kerala state Wayanad. The collapse of a main bridge in the region severely obstructed rescue operations.
State Health Minister Veena George reported that the Kerala Wayanad landslides injured over 70 individuals, while the Indian Express indicated that the Chaliyar River likely swept away many people.”The situation is serious. The government has pressed all agencies into rescue,” state Forest Minister A. K. Saseendran told Reuters, addressing the landslides in the Wayanad district of the state. Moreover, predictions suggested more rain throughout the day.
Saseendran said that the army constructed a temporary bridge after the original one linking the affected area—primarily tea and cardamom estates—to the nearest town of Chooralmala was destroyed. Local news channel Asianet TV reported that the landslides wreaked havoc in the region, killing as many as 41 people.
Television visuals depicted relief personnel navigating through rocks and uprooted trees as muddy water surged through the area, destroying many houses.
Rashid Padikkalparamban, a resident involved in the relief efforts, noted that there were at least three landslides in the area starting around midnight, which washed away the bridge connecting the affected Mundakkai estates to Chooralmala.
Kerala is prone to heavy rain and flooding, with nearly 400 people killed in one of the worst floods in 2018. Relief efforts continued on Tuesday, with two helicopters from the Indian Air Force mobilized, the Kerala chief minister’s office stated.