Kerala landslides: Rescue continues on 5th day, over 1,300 rescuers at work

Search operations started early Saturday with more than 1,300 rescuers, heavy machinery and sophisticated equipment being deployed to look for survivors from the ravages of the landslides that have killed more than 200 people.

Private companies specialising in the field of search and rescue, and volunteers have also joined the operations led by the army, police and emergency service units.

However, huge boulders and logs brought by landslides and deposited in the residential areas of Mundakkai and Chooralmala are posing a significant challenge to rescue efforts to locate people believed to be trapped beneath the rubble.

As many as 210 people have died and 273 were injured in the massive landslides that hit Wayanad district in the wee hours of July 30.

Around 300 people are suspected to be missing and rescue operators are battling adverse conditions, including waterlogged soil, as they search through destroyed homes and buildings.

The district administration had on Friday divided t