The death toll from landslides in India’s Kerala has reached 93, with 128 others hospitalized, the southern state’s Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has told reporters, Paralel.Az reports.

“93 dead bodies have been found so far,” Vijayan said on Tuesday. “128 people are under treatment in hospitals… This is one of the worst natural calamities that our state has seen.”

Landslides triggered by relentless monsoon rains struck tea plantations in the district of Wayanad at about 2 am on Tuesday (20:30 GMT on Monday), as heavy rain collapsed hillsides and triggered torrents of mud, water, and tumbling boulders.

The landslides cut off at least four villages in the district, with rescue efforts hampered by continued rains and blocked roads. Most of the victims were tea estate workers and their families who were asleep in makeshift shelters.

Wayanad is famed for the tea estates crisscrossing its hilly countryside which rely on a large pool of casual labourers for planting and harvest.

Nearly 350 families lived in the affected region, mostly given over to tea and cardamom estates, and 250 people had been rescued so far, state officials said.

Army engineers were deployed to help build a replacement bridge after the one that linked the affected area to the nearest town of Chooralmala was destroyed, the chief minister’s office said in a statement.

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11:23

Around 45 people have been killed and dozens are feared trapped after heavy rains triggered massive landslides in the southern Indian state of Kerala, Paralel.Az reports citing BBC.

The landslides struck hilly areas in the Wayanad district in the early hours of Tuesday.

Rescue operations are underway, but are being hindered by heavy rains and the collapse of a crucial bridge.

"We will be able to assess the extent of the damage only after a few hours," state minister AK Saseendran told BBC Hindi.

State Health Minister Veena George said local hospitals were treating at least 70 injured people. Around 101 people have been rescued so far.

District collector DR Meghasree told reporters that apart from 36 deaths confirmed in Wayanad, nine bodies had floated in the Chaliyar River into neighboring Malappuram district.

Wayanad, a hilly district that is part of the Western Ghats mountain range, is prone to landslides during the monsoon season.

The landslides have hit several areas in the district, including Mundakkai, Attamala, Chooralmala, and Kunhome.