Thiruvananthapuram: Rains continued to wreak havoc in Kerala claiming two more lives and causing massive destruction to properties and flooding, especially in northern districts on Thursday.
Red alert was sounded in Kasargod, Kannur and Wayanad districts during the day and orange alert sounded for Friday .
While a migrant worker from Odisha drowned in Malappuram district, a poultry farmer drowned in Kottayam district.
Many low lying parts of Kannur were flooded. Fire and rescue service personnel shifted people stranded in houses to relief camps using dinghy boats. Since schools were not given holiday in the district, school buses were reportedly stranded in the rain at many places. A group of school students had a narrow escape after a compound wall collapsed as they passed by.
In Palakkad district a school bus with around 20 students plunged into a canal near Aalathur. But the students suffered only minor injuries.
Meanwhile, a high level meeting convened by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan directed the departments concerned, including the railways, to ensure timely cleaning and maintenance of the 'Aamaizhanjan' canal. A sanitation worker drowned in the canal while cleaning the stretch of the garbage filled canal passing through the Thiruvananthapuram central railway station premises.
Published 18 July 2024, 14:29 IST