Rescuers In India’s Kerala Search For Survivors

AFP/APP

Wayanad, India: Relentless downpours and howling winds hampered Wednesday’s search for survivors of landslides that struck Indian tea plantations and killed at least 160 people, most believed to be labourers and their families.

Days of torrential monsoon rains have battered the southern coastal state of Kerala, with blocked roads into the Wayanad district disaster area complicating relief efforts.

The only bridge connecting the worst-hit villages of Chooralmala and Mundakkai was washed away, forcing rescue teams to carry bodies on stretchers out of the disaster zone using a makeshift zipline erected over raging flood waters.

Several people who managed to flee the initial impact of the landslides found themselves caught in a nearby river that had burst its banks, volunteer rescuer Arun Dev told at a hospital treating survivors.

“Those who escaped were swept away along with houses, temples and schools,” Dev said.

Senior Police Officer M.R. Ajith Kumar told that around 500 people had been rescued since successive landslides struck before dawn on Tuesday. “Still large areas are to be explored and searched to find out whether live people are there or not,” he added.

Wayanad is famed for the tea estates that crisscross its hilly countryside and which rely on a large pool of labourers for planting and harvest.