BEW DELHI: (Reuters): At least 41 people were killed and scores injured after landslides in the hills of India’s southern Kerala state.
Rescue operations were obstructed after a main bridge collapsed in the region.
State Health Minister Veena George said that over 70 people were injured and the Indian Express reported that many people are likely to have been washed away in the Chaliyar river.
“The situation is serious. The government has pressed all agencies into rescue,” state Forest Minister A K Saseendran told Reuters after the landslides in the Wayanad district of the state. More rain was predicted through the day.
The army was roped in to build a temporary bridge after a bridge in the district that linked the affected area, mostly tea and cardamom estates, to the nearest town of Chooralmala was destroyed, Saseendran added.
Local news channel Asianet TV said as many as 41 people died after the landslides caused havoc in the region.
Television visuals showed relief personnel making their way through rocks and uprooted trees as muddy water gushed through, with many houses destroyed.
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