Kerala

Rescue operations following landslides in Mylambadi, Wayanad district, Kerala, southern India, 30 July 2024.

Relentless downpours and howling winds hampered Wednesday's search for survivors of landslides that struck Indian tea plantations and killed 122 people, most believed to be labourers and their families.

Landslides in India triggered by pounding monsoon rains have killed at least 45 people with at least 250 others rescued from a landscape transformed by mud and debris, officials said Tuesday.

The southern coastal state of Kerala has been battered by torrential downpours, with blocked roads into the disaster area at Wayanad district complicating relief efforts.

A double-decker boat carrying more than 30 passengers capsized Sunday night off a beach in southern India, and more than 22 people including children died, officials said.

A Greece-flagged vessel is among two tankers chartered by Chevron Corp to load Venezuelan heavy crude at the South American country and should depart in coming days for the United States, according to shipping documents and sources.

At least 25 people have died in landslides and floods triggered by heavy rains in southwestern India, officials said on Oct. 17, as rescuers scoured for survivors in muddy debris and the military flew in emergency supplies.

Residents were cut off in parts of the coastal state of Kerala as the rains, which started to intensify from late Oct. 15, swelled rivers and flooded roads.

At least six people have died in torrential rain and winds as virus-hit India braces for a powerful cyclone, officials said on May 16, with more than 150,000 residents set to be evacuated from their homes.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi suffered a resounding defeat in a key state election on May 2, indicating his Hindu nationalist party's political strength may be slipping as the country struggles to contain an unprecedented surge in coronavirus cases.

India's coronavirus tally crossed the 9.3 million mark on Friday after 43,082 new infections were reported in last 24 hours, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

A virus similar to the SARS pathogen has killed 259 people in China and spread around the world since emerging in a market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.    

On Feb. 1, China's National Health Commission said nearly 12,000 people have been infected by the novel coronavirus.    

India and the Philippines announced the first cases of infection with the new coronavirus, world agencies reported.