Landslides caused by heavy rains kill 93 and bury many others in southern India

NEW DELHI (AP) — Multiple landslides in southern India have killed 93 people and many others are feared trapped under the debris, officials said Tuesday, after torrential rains triggered torrents of mud and water that swept through tea estates and villages.

The landslides hit hilly areas in Kerala state’s Wayanad district early Tuesday, flattening houses, uprooting trees and destroying bridges. Rescuers were working to pull out people stuck under mud and debris, but their efforts were hampered by blocked roads and unstable terrain. Authorities have yet to determine the full scope of the disaster.

Kerala's chief minister, Pinarayi Vijayan, said the landslides had killed at least 93 people and more than 100 people were receiving treatment for injures. He said more than 3,000 people have been moved to relief camps.

Vijayan did not specify how many people were missing or trapped under the debris.

Local media reported that most of the victims were tea estate workers. Television footage showed rescue workers making their way through mud and uprooted trees to reach those who had been stranded. Vehicles swept off the roads were seen stuck in a swollen river. Local TV news channels also aired phone calls of stranded people asking for help.

Authorities mobilized helicopters to help with rescue efforts and the Indian army was roped in to build a temporary bridge.

“We are trying every way to rescue our people,” state Health Minister Veena George said.

In a post on social media platform X, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was “distressed by the landslides in parts of Wayanad," a hilly district which is part of the Western Ghats mountain range.

“My thoughts are with all those who have lost their loved ones and prayers with those injured,” Modi wrote. He announced compensation of 200,000 rupees ($2,388) to the victims’ families.

India’s weather department has put Kerala on alert as the state has been lashed by incessant rains. Downpours have disrupted life for many, and authorities closed schools in some parts Tuesday. More rains are predicted through the day.

Kerala, one of India’s most popular tourist destinations, is prone to heavy rains, flooding and landslides. Nearly 500 people were killed in the state in 2018 in one of the worst floods.

The Indian Meteorological Department said the state has had heavy rainfall over its northern and central regions, with Wayanad district recording up to 28 centimeters (11 inches) of rain in the past 24 hours.

“Monsoon patterns are increasingly erratic and the quantum of rainfall that we receive in a short spell of time has increased. As a result, we see frequent instances of landslides and floods along the Western Ghats,” said Roxy Mathew Koll, a climate scientist at the Pune-based Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology.

Koll also said authorities must check on rapid construction activities happening over landslide areas.

“Often landslides and flash floods occur over regions where the impact of both climate change and direct human intervention in terms of land use changes are evident,” he said.

A 2013 report by a federal government-appointed committee said that 37% of the total area of the Western Ghats mountains should be declared an ecosensitive area and proposed restrictions on any form of construction. The report’s recommendations have not been implemented so far because state governments and residents opposed it.

India regularly has severe floods during the monsoon season, which runs between June and September and brings most of South Asia’s annual rainfall. The rains are crucial for rain-fed crops planted during the season, but often cause extensive damage.

Scientists say monsoons are becoming more erratic because of climate change and global warming.

AP writer Sibi Arasu in Bengaluru, India, contributed to this report.

Rescuers and other stand amid debris after landslides hit hilly villages in Wayanad district, Kerala state, India, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (AP Photo)

Rescuers break for food while looking for survivors after landslides hit hilly villages in Wayanad district, Kerala state, India, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (AP Photo)

A damaged car lies amid debris after landslides hit hilly villages in Wayanad district, Kerala state, India, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (AP Photo)

Rescuers try to reach affected people after landslides hit hilly villages in Wayanad district, Kerala state, India, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (AP Photo)

Rescuers work at the spot after landslides hit hilly villages in Wayanad district, Kerala state, India, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (AP Photo)

Rescuers and others inspect the spot after landslides hit hilly villages in Wayanad district, Kerala state, India, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (AP Photo)

A damaged car and a house after landslides hit hilly villages in Wayanad district, Kerala state, India, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (AP Photo)

This photograph provided by PRO Defense Kochi shows Indian army soldiers engaged in rescue operations at landslide affected village in Wayanad in southern Kerala, India, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (PRO Defense Kochi via AP)

This photograph provided by PRO Defense Kochi shows Indian army soldiers engaged in rescue operations at landslide affected village in Wayanad in southern Kerala, India, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (PRO Defense Kochi via AP)

This photograph provided by PRO Defense Kochi shows Indian army soldiers leaving from Kannur for rescue operations at landslide affected Wayanad in southern Kerala, India, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (PRO Defense Kochi via AP)

Rescuers and others inspect the spot after landslides hit hilly villages in Wayanad district, Kerala state, India, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (AP Photo)

This photograph provided by PRO Defense Kochi shows Indian army soldiers engaged in rescue operations at landslide affected village in Wayanad in southern Kerala, India, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (PRO Defense Kochi via AP)

This photograph provided by PRO Defense Kochi shows Indian army soldiers engaged in rescue operations at landslide affected village in Wayanad in southern Kerala, India, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (PRO Defense Kochi via AP)

Rescuers and others inspect the spot after landslides hit hilly villages in Wayanad district, Kerala state, India, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (AP Photo)

An animal carcass lies amidst logs of wood after landslides hit hilly villages in Wayanad district, Kerala state, India, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (AP Photo)

This photograph provided by PRO Defense Kochi shows Indian army soldiers engaged in rescue operations at landslide affected village in Wayanad in southern Kerala, India, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (PRO Defense Kochi via AP)

This photograph provided by National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) shows rescuers arriving after a landslide in Wayanad, southern Kerala state, India, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (NDRF via AP)

This photograph provided by National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) shows rescuers at a spot after a landslide in Wayanad, southern Kerala state, India, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (NDRF via AP)

People leave for work in the morning holding umbrellas during a rain in Kochi, Kerala state, India, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (AP Photo/ R S Iyer)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Tuesday that returning residents evacuated from Israel’s north due to cross-border fighting with Hezbollah is now an official war goal.

Hezbollah began striking Israel almost immediately after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack that sparked the Israel-Hamas war. Since then, Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged fire daily, coming close to a full-blown war on several occasions and forcing tens of thousands on both sides of the border to evacuate their homes.

Visiting White House envoy Amos Hochstein met with Netanyahu and other top officials Monday to try to soothe tensions and avoid the opening of a new front between Israel and Lebanon. Netanyahu told the envoy that Israel will do “whatever is necessary” to bring home the residents.

Gaza’s Health Ministry says more than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in the territory since Oct. 7. The ministry does not differentiate between fighters and civilians in its count but says a little over half of those killed were women and children. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.

The war has caused vast destruction and displaced about 90% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million.

Here's the latest:

JERUSALEM — Israel’s internal security agency says it foiled an attempt by Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group to kill a former senior Israeli security official.

The Shin Bet said in a statement on Tuesday that it had found an explosive device fitted with a camera and a mechanism that would allow it to be activated by Hezbollah from Lebanon. It said the attack was to be carried out in the coming days.

The Shin Bet did not provide evidence linking the device to Hezbollah, which has been trading fire with Israel along the Lebanese border since the outbreak of the war in Gaza.

It did not say where the device was found or identify the target of the attack, but said the official had been notified. It said the device was similar to one found in a park in Tel Aviv in September 2023 that it said was intended to target a senior Israeli official.

That device went off without causing any injuries. The Shin Bet said Hezbollah was behind both planned attacks.

There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah.

In recent days Israeli officials have warned of a wider military operation to halt Hezbollah rocket attacks and allow tens of thousands of Israelis to return to their homes in the north.

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Palestinian officials say Israel has struck a number of homes in the central Gaza Strip, killing at least four people, including a child. The Civil Defense first responders say more people are trapped under the rubble and the toll is likely to rise after the strikes early Tuesday.

Another strike late Monday in Gaza City killed a man, his wife and child, according to the Civil Defense.

Israel says it only targets militants and tries to avoid harming civilians. It accuses Hamas and other armed groups of endangering civilians by operating in densely populated areas.

Gaza’s Health Ministry says over 41,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war, which was ignited by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack into Israel. It does not differentiate between civilians and combatants but says a little over half of those killed were women and children.

The Israeli military says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.

Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people in the Oct. 7 attacks and took another 250 hostage. They are still holding around 100 captives, a third of whom are believed to be dead, after most of the rest were released during a cease-fire in November.

JERUSALEM — Returning residents evacuated from Israel’s north due to cross-border fighting with Hezbollah is now an official war goal, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Tuesday.

Israeli officials have long said they aim to return the tens of thousands of displaced Israelis to their homes, so it was not immediately clear how the announcement would impact the conduct of the war. But it was a strong indication Israel is prepared to take tougher military action to realize that goal.

Visiting White House envoy Amos Hochstein met with Netanyahu and other top officials Monday to try to soothe tensions and avoid the opening of a new front between Israel and Lebanon.

Netanyahu told the envoy that Israel will do “whatever is necessary” to bring home the residents.

In a brief statement after an overnight Cabinet meeting, Netanyahu’s office said Israel will continue to work toward the goal — the latest sign that patience is running out.

Hezbollah began striking Israel almost immediately after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack that sparked the Israel-Hamas war. Since then, Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged fire daily, coming close to a full-blown war on several occasions and forcing tens of thousands on both sides of the border to evacuate their homes.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has said the focal point of military action is moving from Gaza to Israel’s northern front. In talks with Hochstein on Monday, both he and Netanyahu warned that time was running out for a diplomatic solution and heavier military activity could be inevitable.

UNITED NATIONS — The United States ambassador to the United Nations accused Israel’s military of striking schools, humanitarian workers and civilians in Gaza in a sign of growing American frustration with its close ally as the war approaches its first anniversary.

Israel has repeatedly said it targets Hamas militants, who often hide with civilians and use them as human shields, in retaliation for the Oct. 7 attacks in southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people and launched the war in Gaza.

U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield was unusually outspoken against the Israeli military at a U.N. Security Council meeting Monday, saying many of the strikes in recent weeks that injured or killed U.N. personnel and humanitarian workers were preventable.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for an independent investigation.

Thomas-Greenfield told council members that the U.S. will keep raising the need for Israel to facilitate humanitarian operations in the Palestinian territory and protect humanitarian workers and facilities. She also reiterated outrage at the death of Turkish American activist Aysenur Eygi, who was shot and killed Sept. 6 during a protest in the West Bank. Israeli Defense Forces said it likely killed Eygi by mistake, and the government began a criminal investigation.

FILE - Smoke rises after an Israeli shelling on an area in Lebanon, seen from the Israel-annexed Golan Heights, next to the Israeli-Lebanese border, Sept. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa, FIle)

Mehmet, left. the father of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, a 26 year-old Turkish-American activist killed by the Israeli military, attends prayers during his daughter's funeral outside the central mosque of Didim, Turkey, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024,(AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

A Palestinian woman rides her donkey near the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Palestinians in Lebanon wave their national flags during a protest in front of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) headquarters in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

An Israeli firefighter works to extinguish a fire burning in an area, following an attack from Lebanon, near the Kibbutz Snir, northern Israel, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)