Kerala landslides: 300 people dead

Wayanad : As many as 300 people have died and over 200 injured in the massive landslides that hit Wayanad district two days ago, with the numbers expected to increase even more as rescuers unearth debris, the district administration said on Thursday. The 300 dead include 25 children and 70 women. It said that the post-mortem of 252 bodies, including body parts, has been completed and as many as 100 bodies have been identified. It also said that till now 92 body parts have been found from among the debris.

It further said that 234 people were admitted to hospitals from the disaster-hit areas and of them 92 are still undergoing treatment. Several people remain missing in landslide-hit Wayanad, where rescue operators are contending with adverse conditions, including waterlogged soil, as they search through destroyed homes and buildings for survivors or bodies.

According to the government's official estimate on Wednesday evening, 191 people are missing, though official sources indicate that the actual number may be much higher.

The landslides occurred around 2 am and 4.10 am on Tuesday, catching people off-guard while they were sleeping, leading to a high number of casualties. Massive landslides triggered by torrential rains struck the picturesque hamlets of Mundakkai, Chooralmala, Attamala, and Noolpuzha, leaving behind a trail of death, destruction and despair.

Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra visited Kerala's Wayanad - Gandhi's Lok Sabha constituency - and offered messages of support to people there struggling to recover from devastating landslides .

To underline the emotional impact of their visit Rahul Gandhi told reporters "I feel how I felt when my father (ex-Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, assassinated in May 1991) died". "I remember what I felt when my father died. But here people have not just lost a father... they have lost families... brothers, sisters, mothers, and fathers. I know what I felt (when his father was killed) and this is much worse than that. It is not one person suffering but thousands."

He said he was "deeply pained" to see people who have lost family members and homes in the tragedy, calling it a "national disaster" and demanded an urgent comprehensive action plan.