At least 151 people have been killed and dozens are still missing in the devastating landslides that struck Wayanad district in Kerala early Tuesday morning. The catastrophe has left Wayanad –known for its picturesque tea estates crisscrossing the hilly countryside– in ruins, with many houses destroyed and trees uprooted.
The tea plantations were among the worst hit by the two successive landslides that struck before dawn on Tuesday. Most of the 350 families living in the area, surrounded by tea and cardamom estates, were caught unaware as they slept.
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Recounted the harrowing night she experienced, a landslide victim told news agency ANI: “I stay alone at my home. At night, I felt like my bed was shaking and I heard loud noises. I tried to call my neighbours, but nobody picked up the phone. I called my son, who lives in Coimbatore, who asked me to climb on top of the house and stay there. I couldn’t open the door as it was jammed. I yelled for help. After some time, people came and broke the door with an axe and rescued me. When the second landslide came, my house also got swept away.”
Kerala's Athirapally Falls turns deadly amid torrential rains and landslides. Watch
{{/usCountry}}Kerala's Athirapally Falls turns deadly amid torrential rains and landslides. Watch
{{/usCountry}}She said her relatives who stayed in Mundakkai died in the landslides.
“They all died, two of their bodies have been recovered, the rest six to seven are missing. Now I don’t have a home, or land and can’t go for a job either. I won’t be able to build a home. I don’t know what to do,” she said.
Several brick-walled row homes, built to accommodate seasonal workers, were inundated by a powerful wall of brown sludge, burying labourers and their families inside.
Rescue workers searching for survivors and victims struggled to reach those trapped under the debris.
The government was considering making a portable, pre-fabricated Bailey bridge to connect the affected area, after the main bridge to the nearest town of Chooralmala was destroyed.
Four columns from DSC Centre, Kannur, and 122 TA Battalion are conducting combined rescue operations alongside NDRF and state rescue teams.
With inputs from agencies