By Chris Thomas and Jose Devasia
THIRUVANANTHPURAM, India (Reuters) -At least 19 people were killed after multiple landslides in the hills of India’s southern state of Kerala on Tuesday, local media reported, with rescue efforts hampered after the collapse of a major bridge in the area.
“The situation is serious. The government has pressed all agencies into rescue,” state Forest Minister A K Saseendran told Reuters after the landslides in the Wayanad district of the state.
The army was roped in to build a temporary bridge after a bridge in the district that linked the affected area to the nearest town of Chooralmala was destroyed, Saseendran added.
Hundreds of people are likely to be trapped and as many 19 people have died, including a child, the Indian Express newspaper reported.
Television visuals showed muddy water gushing through rocks and fallen trees, with many houses destroyed.
A person involved in the relief efforts told Reuters there were at least three landslides in the area.
The India Meteorological Department has forecast extremely heavy rain in the state on Tuesday.
Relief efforts are ongoing, and two helicopters of the Indian Air Force have been mobilised, the Kerala chief minister’s office said in a statement.
Rescue efforts were hampered as there was no internet connectivity in the area, Mohsen Shahedi, a senior National Disaster Response Force officer said.
(Reporting by Jose Devasia, Chris Thomas and Munsif Vengatill, additional reporting by Sudipto Ganguly, writing by Tanvi Mehta; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Raju Gopalakrishnan)
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