On Friday, four individuals were saved from a house in Kerala state, India, three days after catastrophic landslides. This followed the acceleration of search operations due to the construction of a crucial bridge that facilitated the transportation of heavy equipment to the disaster zone.
Heavy rainfall in Kerala, a renowned tourist spot in southern India, led to landslides in Wayanad district on Tuesday. These landslides unleashed a deluge of mud, water, and rocks, resulting in numerous fatalities as people were asleep.
This calamity, the most severe in Kerala since the 2018 floods, has claimed 308 lives, with nearly 200 still unaccounted for, according to authorities. Local media reports indicate 292 deaths.
Two men and two women were discovered alive by the army in a remote, stranded area on Friday, as stated by V T Mathew, a senior army commander. One of them sustained injuries.
Rescue operations faced initial challenges as Mundakkai, the most affected area, was isolated from Chooralmala due to the destruction of the main bridge. However, heavy vehicles have now started using a 58-metre bridge built by army engineers, and drones equipped with earth-sensing technology are being deployed to locate buried bodies.
Rescue teams have intensified efforts, including the use of swimming experts, to search the Chaliyar river and its banks where bodies are expected to be found. Experts note that the area had experienced heavy rainfall in the past two weeks, which likely weakened the soil, leading to the landslides triggered by extreme rainfall on Monday.
Nearly 1,600 people have been rescued from hillside villages and estates over the past two days, with nearly 350 buildings damaged.
