At least 22 people have died after torrential rains hit the southern Indian state of Kerala at the weekend, officials said.
Rainfall across the state triggered floods and landslides in several districts, with the Indian Army and Navy called in to rescue residents.
Officials and witnesses said about 13 of those were killed in a landslide in Kotikal village.
«There were four landslides yesterday in the hill behind me, causing water to come down and other things,» a local resident told a Reuters news agency partner yesterday, standing in front of a now bare hill.
Nearly half of the victims are from one family, said PK Gyasri, a senior government official in Kottayam district where the landslide occurred.
«The family of six has lost completely,» he said.
The state’s Disaster Management Commission said in a statement that light rain is expected to continue across the state, although weather warnings have been withdrawn in many areas.
Kerala was also the victim of the worst floods in a century in 2018 that killed at least 400 people and displaced nearly 200,000.
India, with a population of 1.3 billion, depends on rainfall to support its population, many of which depend on agriculture.
But heavy rainfall can cause floods, landslides and water-borne diseases.