In southern India, the monsoon caused major landslides on Tuesday, July 30. The provisional toll is at least 93 dead and 128 hospitalized, but there are still people buried under the rubble.
Since the start of the rainy season, India has been facing numerous natural disasters that each time leave behind a heavy human and material toll. On Tuesday, July 30, local authorities announced that landslides in the state of Kerala, in the southwest of the country, had caused at least 93 deaths, but the toll is changing by the minute. 128 people had to be hospitalized and “hundreds of people are potentially trapped” under the rubble, or because the roads are impassable, the army said in an official statement.
AP/Sipa
Roads destroyed, areas completely flooded
On the ground, all the forces present are made available to the authorities, to face what has already been announced as “one of the worst natural disasters that our State has known” by the Chief Minister of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan. But the 225 soldiers who came to reinforce the relief efforts, to participate in the search and rescue efforts of the survivors, are struggling to advance in the disaster areas because the bad weather continues, giving rise to floods on the last places of passage still accessible. Medical aid as well as stretchers are transported using makeshift zip lines, so as not to be carried away by the current.
AP/Sipa
For now, the images show devastated landscapes. The roads are completely destroyed and many areas are flooded. Houses have collapsed in places. Those that remained in place are almost completely covered by mud, as are vehicles that sometimes end up stranded in the middle of the water or caught in the current. In the forest areas too, the damage is significant. A few trucks and excavators manage to reach these areas still threatened by new landslides, to transport medical equipment or help to get survivors out of the rubble.