Landslides struck tea estates in Kerala state on Tuesday, resulting in the deaths of over 50 people, authorities reported. The hillsides collapsed following heavy rainfall, sending rivers of mud, water, and boulders onto the homes of workers and villagers.
The hillsides gave way after midnight following heavy rainfall on Monday in Wayanad district, a popular tourist destination in Kerala. Most of the victims were estate workers and their families who were asleep in makeshift tents at the time.
Television footage showed relief personnel working amid uprooted trees and flattened tin structures as boulders littered the site, with muddy water rushing through.
Television footage captured one man stuck in chest-high mud for hours, struggling to free himself until rescue workers finally reached him.
“More than 50 dead bodies have been found, but it is difficult to establish an accurate count as many body parts have been spotted in the river,” the state chief minister’s spokesman, P.M. Manoj, told Reuters by phone.
Nearly 350 families resided in the affected region, primarily tea and cardamom estates. State officials reported that 250 people had been rescued so far, but many others remain missing.
Army engineers were called in to assist in building an alternate bridge after the one connecting the affected area to the nearest town of Chooralmala was destroyed, the chief minister’s office stated.
The weather office reported extremely heavy rainfall over north and central Kerala on Tuesday, with more rain predicted throughout the day.
Tuesday’s landslides are the worst disaster there since 2018 when heavy floods killed almost 400 people.
State cabinet minister M B Rajesh earlier stated that at least 44 people were killed and 250 had been relocated to temporary shelters, but rescue efforts were hampered due to the collapse of a bridge.
“We fear the gravity of this tragedy is much greater. Rescue operations are being conducted by various agencies on a war footing,” Rajesh said.
Rashid Padikkalparamban, a resident involved in relief efforts, said landslides started around midnight, washing away the bridge connecting 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.
Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, who won the recently-contested general election from Wayanad but resigned as he was also elected from his family bastion in the north, said he had spoken to the state chief minister to ensure coordination with all agencies.
“The devastation unfolding in Wayanad is heartbreaking,” he said in a message on X. “I have urged the union government to extend all possible support.”