KOCHI: Nine persons died and several others were reported missing as a string of landslides triggered by heavy downpour battered the high range Idukki and adjoining districts of Kerala on Monday.
The Cochin International Airport has been temporarily closed and two flights diverted as the runway got waterlogged. Periyar river and canals are overflowing after the downpour lashed the area since Sunday.
The deceased included two children and two women as their houses on the slopes of the hills in Idukki district were swept away by flash floods, police said.
