66 killed in floods, mudslides in southern India

NEW DELHI — At least 66 people have died and some 360,000 have moved to relief camps following flash floods and mudslides caused by days of torrential rains in the southern Indian states of Kerala and Karnataka, a news report said Saturday.

The Press Trust of India news agency, or PTI, quoted officials as saying that 42 people have died in Kerala since Thursday. Authorities have set up 1,111 relief camps with about 125,000 people.

In neighboring Karnataka, at least 24 people have died, with 235,000 being moved to safer areas, the report quoted the state’s chief minister, B.S. Yediyurappa, as saying.

He said there has been extensive destruction to property and livestock.

The report cited a Kerala official as saying the bodies of seven people were recovered and 15 were feared trapped in a mudslide in a Wayanad tea plantation.

India’s southernmost Tamil Nadu state also has faced severe floods and mudslides, with the air force being deployed to rescue marooned residents, the PTI report said.

Kerala suffered catastrophic floods a year ago when heavy downpours amid the monsoon season killed 223 people and drove hundreds of thousands from their homes.

South Asia has continued to face rain-related disasters, with 160 people killed last month in northeastern India, Nepal and Bangladesh.