‘324 lives lost’ Panicked pleas for help as Kerala flood toll triples to 324

Troop reinforcements stepped up desperate rescue attempts in India’s flood-stricken Kerala state yesterday after more than 100 bodies were found in a day and a half, taking the crisis death toll to 324.

The state has been battered by record monsoon rainfall in recent days and is “facing the worst flood in 100 years”, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said.

In a Twitter statement released by his office, he said there had been “324 lives lost”, a tripling of the death toll in the last 24 hours.