Nine washed away in flash floods in Kerala

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Nine persons, including five of a family, were washed away in flashfloods triggered by heavy rains in Kozhikode and Kannur districts in north Kerala, official sources said on Tuesday.

Eight of the deaths were reported in Pulloorampara hill region of Kozhikode district where flash floods washed away some houses on Monday, while a boy drowned in floodwaters in Kannur district on Tuesday morning.

About 40 houses have been damaged in the flash floods in Pullorampara where the heavy downpour also triggered four landslips resulting in roadblocks.

An elderly couple, their daughter-in-law and two grandchildren, including a three-year-old boy, were swept away by the deluge in Kozhikode on Monday. Three other bodies were recovered by rescue teams from different areas in and around Kozhikode, officials said.

In neighbouring Kannur district, nine-year-old Akshay was swept away by the swirling floodwaters in Iritty.

Rehabilitation work is on in full swing and people from low lying areas have been evacuated to safer places in the two districts even as the threat of further landslips loomed large in Iritty region, officials said.

The Malabar region, including Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur and Kasargod districts, has been experiencing heavy rains since Monday night.

Kerala Chief minister Oommen Chandy, who is in Delhi, said the state government would provide all help to the people affected by the flash floods in the two districts.

State Home Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan visited Iritty region and assured all assistance to the affected. Officials said Pazhassi dam near Iritty was overflowing and about 120 shops in the town and Sreekantapuram have been inundated.