Landslides after heavy rain in India's Kerala kill 106, many still trapped

Rescuers help residents to move to a safer place, at a landslide site after multiple landslides in the hills, in Wayanad, in the southern state of Kerala, India, July 30, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer

KOCHI, India (Reuters) -Landslides swept through tea estates and villages in southern India's Kerala on Tuesday, killing at least 106 people while they slept as unexpected heavy rain collapsed hillsides and triggered torrents of mud, water and tumbling boulders.

The hillsides gave way after midnight following torrential rainfall on Monday in the Wayanad district of Kerala, a state known as one of India's most popular tourist destinations. Most of the victims were tea estate workers and their families who lived in small houses or makeshift shelters.