At least five of those killed were children.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin offered condolences and announced Rs 5 lakh financial assistance to the families of those who died in the landslide due to heavy rainfall in Thiruvannamalai district.
#WATCH | Tamil Nadu: Visuals from Tiruvannamalai where 7 people, including 5 children, died when a huge rock fell on their house, following continuous rainfall because of #FengalCyclone.
4 bodies have been recovered and sent to the hospital. Deputy CM Udhayanidhi Stalin… pic.twitter.com/YsOgDJFCJy
— ANI (@ANI) December 3, 2024
A rock weighing approximately 40 tonnes is said to have slid and fallen on the houses under which the people were trapped.
An official of the fire and rescue services told PTI, “A large boulder has fallen on the huts located on the lower slopes of the hill. It is raining heavily and rescue operations are going on.”
Continuous heavy rainfall has caused waterlogging in several residential areas of the district.
The cyclone is forecasted to cross the north Tamil Nadu-Puducherry coasts and is said to reach the Kerala-Karnataka coasts by Tuesday, December 3. The IMD has issued a red alert in Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur and Kasargod districts of Kerala.
Cyclone Fengal made a coastal impact near Puducherry on Saturday (November 30) and has caused severe damage across south India, including Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Puducherry. Though the cyclone weakened on Sunday (December 1), heavy downpours under its influence have brought the areas affected to a standstill.
Three people lost their lives in Chennai in separate incidents of electrocution and several hundreds have been displaced. At least 471 people have been rescued and rehabilitated across six relief centres in Tamil Nadu, as of now.
Rescue and relief operations by the state disaster response teams, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Indian Army are currently underway. The Indian Army has supplied emergency rations including food, water, and medical assistance to affected residents.
First Published: Dec 2, 2024 1:57 PM IST
