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At least 45 people were killed and 250 others rescued from a landscape transformed by mud and debris after monsoon rains in India, official said on Tuesday.
The southern coastal state of Kerala has been battered by downpour with blocked roads into the disaster area at Wayanad district complicating relief efforts.
District official D.R. Meghasree told reporters that 45 people were dead and another 116 were in hospital for treatment.
“My thoughts are with all those who have lost their loved ones and prayers with those injured,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a post on social media platform X.
Images published by the National Disaster Response Force showed 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.
Kerala state excise minister M.B. Rajesh said more than 250 people in total had been rescued so far, The Hindu newspaper reported.
Modi’s office said families of victims would be given a compensation payment of $2,400 (200,000 rupees).
More rainfall and strong winds were forecast in Kerala on Tuesday, the state’s disaster management agency said.
Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi said the situation was devastation and “heartbreaking”.
He added: “Our country has witnessed an alarming rise in landslides in recent years.
“The need of the hour is a comprehensive action plan to address the growing frequency of natural calamities.”
The number of fatal floods and landslides has increased in recent years, and experts say climate change is exacerbating the problem.
