42 dead in rain, mudslides in India's Kerala state

NEW DELHI: At least 42 people have died and some 100,000 moved to relief camps following flash floods and mudslides caused by days of torrential rains in the southern Indian state of Kerala, a news report said Saturday.

The Press Trust of India news agency quoted officials as saying 29 deaths had been reported in Kozhikode, Malappuram and Wayanad districts since Thursday. Authorities have set up 988 relief camps with 107,699 people.

An official is quoted as saying the bodies of seven people have been recovered and 15 are feared trapped in a mudslide in a Wayanad tea plantation.

Heavy downpours amid the monsoon season at the same time last year across Kerala 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.