Landslides in India's Kerala kill 23, main bridge in Wayanad area collapses

KERALA — At least 23 people were killed and scores injured after landslides in the hills of India's southern Kerala state, authorities said, with rescue operations were hampered after a main bridge collapsed in the region.

"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.

As many as 23 people were killed and over 70 injured, state Health Minister Veena George said. Many people are likely to have been washed away in the Chaliyar river, the Indian Express newspaper reported.

Television visuals showed relief personnel making their way through rocks and uprooted trees as muddy water gushed through, with many houses destroyed.

Rashid Padikkalparamban, a resident involved in the relief efforts, said there were at least three landslides in the area around midnight, which washed away the bridge connecting the affected area, the Mundakkai estates, to Chooralmala.

"Many people who were working in the estates and staying in makeshift tents inside are feared trapped or missing," he said.

The India Meteorological Department has forecast extremely heavy rain in the state through the day.

Kerala is prone to heavy rain and flooding, with nearly 400 people killed in one of the worst floods in 2018.

Relief efforts were ongoing on July 30, and two helicopters of the Indian Air Force have been mobilised, the Kerala chief minister's office said in a statement.

Rescue operations were hampered as there was no internet connectivity in the area, Mohsen Shahedi, a senior National Disaster Response Force officer told Reuters.

Rahul Gandhi, the leader of India's main opposition Congress party, won the recently-contested general election from Wayanad district, but resigned from the seat as he was also elected from his family bastion in northern India.

Gandhi said he had spoken to the state chief minister "to ensure coordination with all agencies, set up a control room, and inform us of any assistance needed for the relief efforts".

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