Torrential rains, landslides in coastal Karnataka leave 5 dead

Heavy rains and landslides across Karnataka’s coastal Dakshina Kannada district have claimed five lives, officials said on Friday.

On Thursday night, a landslide struck a home at Montepadavu Kodi near here, trapping five people under debris, they said.

According to officials, a woman and her child were pulled from the debris and hospitalised in critical condition. However, another child of the woman was found dead.

Heavy rains overnight triggered a landslide around 4 am, collapsing the house where six members of the Poojary family were asleep.

Among the deceased were three-year-old Aryan and his two-year-old brother Aarush. Their grandmother, Prema Poojary, also died in the incident.

Ashwini, their mother, tried to shield the children with her body as a wall came crashing down. Eyewitnesses said she was found under the debris, unconscious but still clutching her children. “I don’t care what happens to me, please save my children,” she had reportedly pleaded as neighbours attempted a risky rescue amid continuing landslides.

However, Ashwini’s husband Sitaram narrowly escaped by rushing out after hearing the landslide while his father Kantappa Poojary, who sustained injuries, was rescued by locals and admitted to a hospital, a senior official said.

A video taken by locals showed the harrowing moments. The younger child, Aarush, was seen trying to crawl out from the rubble, while Aryan had already succumbed.

Local rescue efforts had to pause due to unstable ground conditions until professional teams arrived.

Heavy rains and the limited access to the site had hampered rescue operations.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), and local police were involved in the rescue operations.

In another incident at Deralakatte in Mangaluru, a compound wall collapsed on a house on Friday morning, killing a six-year-old girl identified as Fatima Naeem.

Authorities have issued warnings for vulnerable zones in the region, as intermittent rains continue to batter the coastal belt.

In another rain-related incident, a 27-year-old lineman died of electrocution while attempting to repair a high-tension (HT) line in this coastal district on Thursday amid heavy rain, police said.

The incident occurred in Amar Jalu, a village in Kuvettu, Belthangady taluk, they said.

According to police, the deceased, Vijesh Jain, was a resident of Kuvettu and was engaged in HT line restoration work when he allegedly came into contact with a live wire. He was the second son of Sukumar Jain and Poornima.

A case has been registered at Belthangady police station in connection with the incident.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, after receiving a full briefing on the landslides and wall collapses in Dakshina Kannada district due to overnight rains, instructed district in-charge Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao and Dakshina Kannada District Deputy Commissioner to immediately visit the spot, inspect, take necessary action and report back to him.

The CM issued the instructions during the review meeting with Deputy Commissioners of all districts and CEOs of Zilla Panchayats at Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru.