Indian soldiers rushed to complete construction of a metal bridge on Thursday to connect the worst affected area in the Kerala landslides as the search continued for survivors and bodies after the disaster that has killed at least 189 people.
Heavy rain in the southern coastal state of Kerala, one of India's most popular tourist destinations, caused landslides in the hills of Wayanad district early on Tuesday, sending torrents of mud, water and tumbling boulders downhill and burying or sweeping people to their deaths as they slept.
Army engineers scrambled to build a 190-foot (58 meter) bridge to ferry heavy equipment from the nearest town of Chooralmala to the affected area, Mundakkai, after rising water in a local river washed away a makeshift bridge on Wednesday.