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)

The European Union on Monday condemned attacks on U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon and rejected Israeli allegations that the U.N. was keeping them there to obstruct military operations against Hezbollah.

Five peacekeepers have been wounded in attacks that struck their positions since Israel began a ground campaign against the Hezbollah militant group, with most blamed on Israeli forces. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said that “their work is very important. It’s completely unacceptable attacking United Nations troops.”

Israel has been escalating its campaign against Hezbollah after a year of exchanges of fire, while it is also at war with Hamas in Gaza.

Israel’s offensive in Gaza has killed over 42,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, who do not say how many were fighters but say women and children make up more than half of the fatalities. The war has destroyed large areas of Gaza and displaced about 90% of its population of 2.3 million people.

It’s been more than a year since Hamas-led militants blew holes in Israel’s security fence and stormed into army bases and farming communities, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting another 250. They are still holding about 100 captives inside Gaza, a third of whom are believed to be dead.

Here's the latest:

BRUSSELS — Irish Foreign Minister Micheál Martin is accusing Israel of trying to prevent the world from seeing what its troops are doing in Lebanon and Gaza, and of working to undermine the United Nations.

Asked what Israel’s aim might be in demanding that UNIFIL peacekeepers leave their bases after a series of attacks, Martin said: “essentially to drive the eyes and ears out of south Lebanon and to give itself free rein.”

“We cannot have an undermining and a chipping away of the status or the credibility or structures of the United Nations and particularly its peacekeeping forces,” Martin said in Luxembourg, where EU foreign ministers are meeting.

“We see what’s happening in northern Gaza, for example, in terms of the necessity of eyes and ears on the ground. The world has really no full picture of what’s happening in Gaza,” he told reporters.

Martin added that “Israel is essentially now undermining (not only) the United Nations and the United Nations peacekeeping force, but the very rules based international order, and it needs to step back.”

He called on his EU counterparts “to stand up now on the side of what’s right and proper and moral in terms of humanity.”

TEL AVIV, Israel — Israel’s Shin Bet domestic security agency said Monday police had charged two Israelis on accusations that they planned to carry out an assassination at the behest of Iran.

The agency said Vladislav Victorson, 30, was approached online by a person called Mari Hossi and was instructed to carry out missions that ranged from petty vandalism to torching cars, and paid more than $5,000.

The Shin Bet said Victorson was asked to damage communications infrastructure and ATMs, although a statement did not say whether he carried out these acts. It also did not name the Israeli figure he allegedly agreed to assassinate. The Shin Bet said he also sought to acquire weapons, including a sniper’s rifle, guns and grenades. According to the Shin Bet, Victorson enlisted two other people, including his girlfriend, Anna Bernstein, 18, to assist in his missions.

The Shin Bet said Iranian agents are known to use social media and promises of cash in efforts to recruit Israelis to carry out such attacks.

Israel and Iran have a longstanding shadow war, which over the past year has erupted into direct conflict.

BRUSSELS — The European Union condemned attacks on U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon and rejected allegations that U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres is responsible for obstructing the Israeli army.

Sixteen EU countries are contributing to the UNIFIL peacekeeping force. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said that “their work is very important. It’s completely unacceptable attacking United Nations troops.” Five peacekeepers have been wounded in attacks that struck their positions, with most blamed on Israeli forces.

Speaking in Luxembourg before chairing talks between EU foreign ministers, Borrell underlined that the U.N. Security Council decides whether UNIFIL should be moved, “so stop blaming Secretary Guterres.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday called for UNIFIL to heed Israel’s warnings to evacuate, accusing them of “providing a human shield” to Hezbollah. In a video addressed to Guterres, who has been banned from entering Israel, Netanyahu told the U.N. chief “to get (UNIFIL) out of the danger zone.”

Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg, whose country is one of Europe’s strongest backers of Israel, said the attacks are “simply unacceptable” and that UNFIL will not be leaving.

“No, they will not withdraw. Yes, they will continue to fulfill the mandate. And yes, we demand on each and every party to respect this mandate and respect the security and safety of our blue helmets,” he told reporters.

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — The Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip said it has launched the second round of a polio vaccination campaign in the war-ravaged territory.

It said Monday that a second does of the vaccine will be administered to children under 10 in the central part of the territory over the next three days before the campaign is expanded to the north and south.

The campaign began last month after the territory registered its first polio case in Gaza in 25 years — a 10-month-old boy, now paralyzed in one leg.

Health workers succeeded in administering the first dose of the vaccine to around 560,000 children despite myriad challenges, including ongoing fighting, the breakdown of law and order and widespread damage to roads and infrastructure.

The World Health Organization said humanitarian pauses to facilitate the campaign last month were largely observed.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — “It is totally, utterly unacceptable for Israel to be targeting U.N. Peacekeepers,” New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon told reporters in the capital on Monday.

“I think the whole world is outraged that Israel is targeting U.N. facilities. They are there on a peacekeeping mission to try and keep the peace on that border,” he said.

Palestinians look at the damage after an Israeli strike hit a tent area in the courtyard of Al Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinians look at the damage after an Israeli strike hit a tent area in the courtyard of Al Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinians look at the damage after an Israeli strike hit a tent area in the courtyard of Al Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Israeli soldiers display what they say is an entrance to a Hezbollah tunnel found during their ground operation in southern Lebanon, near the border with Israel, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Sam McNeil)

Israeli soldiers are seen during a ground operation in southern Lebanon, near the border with Israel, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Sam McNeil)

Israeli soldiers display what they say is an entrance to a Hezbollah tunnel found during their ground operation in southern Lebanon, near the border with Israel, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Sam McNeil)

Middle East latest: EU condemns attacks on peacekeepers in Lebanon

FILE - UN peacekeepers hold their flag, as they observe Israeli excavators attempt to destroy tunnels built by Hezbollah, near the southern Lebanese-Israeli border village of Mays al-Jabal, Lebanon, Dec. 13, 2019. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)

Middle East latest: EU condemns attacks on peacekeepers in Lebanon