By Esha Mitra, Kunal Sehgal, Sandi Sidhu, Robert Shackelford and Lex Harvey, CNN
(CNN) — A massive rescue operation is underway in the southern Indian state of Kerala after major landslides in the northeastern district of Wayanad killed at least 93 people and injured 128 others, the state’s chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said Tuesday.
At least two landslides hit Wayanad in the early hours of Tuesday morning, impacting about one thousand people, A K Saseendran, the state’s minister for forest and wildlife, told CNN.
“We don’t know if people have been washed away in the river but we are doing our best to rescue people. We are leaving no stone unturned,” Saseendran said.
Many of the victims had drowned, Vijayan said, adding the casualty toll was not final as “things could change in the coming hours.”
The weather has improved slightly allowing rescue efforts to speed up, Saseendran said, adding that a temporary bridge has been constructed to facilitate evacuations, with the army, navy and air force all participating in the emergency response.
Earlier, emergency responders at the site of the landslides – which was covered in mud and toppled trees – carried away bodies in tarps and helped residents move to safety as rain poured down.
The army was dispatched to help rescue 250 people who were stranded in a village after a bridge collapsed, a commissioner for the state’s disaster management authority told CNN.
The national and state disaster rescue forces and the Kerala fire services are also involved in rescue operations, said PM Manoj, Press Secretary to the Kerala Chief Minister.
At least 250 people have been rescued so far, a local minister told Press Trust of India.
Heavy rain had made conditions treacherous for rescuers as they tried to determine the full scope of the disaster, while trees and debris obscured access to roads.
“Helicopters have also been brought there, but the weather is bad,” said Veena George, the state health minister. “There are many challenges there because there is no electricity.”
The medical superintendent for Dr. Moopen Medical Hospital in the village of Mepaddi told CNN the adverse weather conditions had meant hospitals were receiving the injured “one by one” and that the hospital is running out of ventilators.
So far 73 patients have been brought in, said Narayanan. Eight patients of those patients were dead when they arrived, and a further eight are in the intensive care unit, two in critical condition.
“The injuries they are coming with include fractures, abrasions, lacerations, and quite a number of them have mud in their lungs,” Narayanan said.
CNN Weather reported widespread rainfall totals of 6 inches across Kerala, with some areas seeing almost 10 inches of rain. Kerala’s summers tend to be very wet, and these rainfall totals are standard for this time of year.
Heavy flooding and mudslides have killed hundreds, displaced millions and wrecked infrastructure across South Asia in recent months. While floods are common in the region during monsoon season, scientists say the climate crisis has exacerbated extreme weather events and made them more deadly.
China has also experienced weeks of damaging rain triggering floods and landslides.
In a post to X, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was “distressed by the landslides in parts of Wayanad. My thoughts are with all those who have lost their loved ones and prayers with those injured.”
His office announced “ex-gratia” compensation of INR 200,000 ($2,388) for the next of kin of those deceased and INR 50,000 ($597) for those injured.
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