Landslides in India’s Kerala kill at least 36, hundreds feared trapped

Landslides in India triggered by pounding monsoon rains have killed at least 36 people with hundreds more feared trapped under mud and debris, officials said on Tuesday.

The southern coastal state of Kerala has been battered by torrential downpours, and the collapse of a key bridge at the disaster site in Wayanad district has hampered rescue efforts, according to local media reports.

“Thirty-six deaths have been confirmed in connection with the landslide in Wayanad,” district official D.R. Meghasree told reporters.

Kerala state health minister Veena George told the Press Trust of India news agency that “many” others had been injured and were being treated in hospital.

Images published by the National Disaster Response Force show 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.

“Hundreds of people are suspected to have been trapped,” it said in a statement.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he had assured the Kerala government of “all possible help” with the situation.

“My thoughts are with all those who have lost their loved ones and prayers with those injured,” he said in a post on social media platform X.

His office said families of victims would be given a compensation payment of US$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, who until recently represented