Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India: The death toll in the Wayanad landslide tragedy climbed to 158 on Wednesday, with several injured and trapped, according to the State Health Department.
Injured victims were rescued from the affected villages, but rescue workers battling heavy downpour fear more victims might still be trapped in collapsed buildings.
Relief and rescue operations are also underway in Wayanad's Chooralmala after a landslide hit the district in the early hours of Tuesday.
The massive landslide brought extensive damage to houses and roads and uprooted trees, while torrential rain made rivers more dangerous, hindering rescue operations.
A two-day mourning period is observed in the state following the Wayanad landslide.
On Tuesday, Union Minister George Kurian reached Wayanad to take stock of ongoing relief operations, where he interacted with senior officials of the NDRF, CRPF and Army officials.
He also visited a relief camp at Kalpetta at 11 pm.
Trapped
NDRF Commander Akhilesh Kumar has said: "We rescued injured victims from Mundakkai village yesterday. We fear victims might be trapped in collapsed buildings... Till 10 pm last night, we rescued 70 people, after which we had to stop because of bad weather and rain...
"Since many teams are working, we cannot give an exact number of deaths, because we only know about the dead bodies our team has recovered... People have been given shelter in a resort and a mosque on the other side of the river. Since rainfall is going on, there are chances of another landslide."
Meanwhile, Kerala health Minister Veena George's vehicle met with a minor accident near Manjeri in Malappuram district. She was travelling to Wayanad. No major injuries were reported to either the health minister or her staff. The Health Minister is being treated at Manjeri Medical College.
Veena George was visiting the Health Department Directorate to assess the ongoing arrangements. She provided a detailed overview of the situation and instructed for precise tracking of available hospital beds in the affected areas, as per the Kerala Health Minister's Office.
Mobile mortuaries
Minister George also recommended setting up temporary hospitals if necessary and emphasised the need to evaluate the mortuary systems at existing hospitals, including the utilisation of mobile mortuaries. She also reviewed the operations of the control room, which will function 24/7 to assist both health workers and the public, Kerala Health Minister's Office.
On Tuesday morning, two massive landslides that washed away the Mundakkai and Chooramala areas of Vellarimala village took place under Meppadi Panchayat in Wayanad.
The landslides destroyed several houses, uprooted trees and made water bodies swell, hampering the rescue work.
Weathermen at the India Meteorological Department (IMD) predict heavy rain over the next three days: "Heavy to very heavy rainfall is very likely to occur at isolated places in Kerala on July 31 and August 1."'
The weather bureau has predicted heavy rainfall for August 2: "Strong surface winds with speeds reaching 30-40 gusting to 50 kmph are likely to prevail occasionally over Kerala on July 30 and 31."
The first landslide occurred at 2 am on July 30, followed by another at 4:10 am, causing immense damage to homes and livelihoods. Many areas, including Meppadi, Mundakkai and Chooralmala, have been isolated, and roads have been washed away. The Vellarmala GVH School was completely buried.
Late on Tuesday, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan held a high-level meeting to expedite the rescue operations at the landslide-affected Chooralmala in Wayanad. The meeting was held at the Kerala SDMA office and included discussions on enhancing operations through collaboration with various central agencies & forces.
