Wayanad, July 30 (Reporter) As many as 30 people including two children died after two massive landslides hit Mundakai and Chooralmala in Vellarimala village under Meppadi panchayat in Wayanad district, in the wee hours of Tuesday. Sources said so far 30 bodies have been recovered. Several houses are either fully or partially damaged and around 70 people were injured in the incident. Kerala Health Minister Veena George confirmed the death of 23 persons. As many as 18 bodies were kept at Meppadi government hospital, and five bodies in a private hospital at Meppadi in Wayanad district. six bodies were recovered from Attamala, which flowed down from Mundakkai. Seven dead bodies were fished out by locals from the Chaliyar river, in between the Pothukkal and Kunipalam areas in the nearby Malappuram districts, and kept at various hospitals. Unconfirmed reports said, the total death rose to 42 at 1130 hrs and feared many people were trapped under the debris and rescue operations are going on. The Bridge and road connecting Mundakai from Chooralmala town are also washed away, so the access is unable to reach the accident site at Mundakkai. The Mundakai and Attamala areas were isolated following the impact of the landslide after huge boulders rolled down the hills. Around 40 families were affected by the mishap and many of them were stuck in the debris. According to official sources, the landslides occurred at around 0200 and 0400 AM. Around 400 families residing in the Mundakai and Chooralmala areas were affected by the landslides. Rescue operations began at around 0600 hrs. The rescue operations were hindered due to heavy downpours since Sunday. Kerala Revenue Minister K Rajan led a minister-level team to Wayanad to coordinate the rescue operations. Two helicopters from Air Force MH 17 and ALH will depart from Sulur to capture the aerial views and airlift the affected people, however, they return to Kozhikide as they could not able to land at SKJM school in the morning. A 20 member team of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has been deployed at Mundakai areas and rescue operations are going on. Teams from Defence Security Corpse (DSC) and the Fire force also rushed to Wayanad, but they were unable to reach the area. Military personnel from Kannur DSC and Army from Wellington in Coonor would reach Wayanad to construct a temporary bridge to reach the Mundakkai from Choorimala town. Heavy rains lashed out since Sundaynight and a red alert has been issued at Wayanad, Kozhikode, Malappuram, Kannur, and Kasargod district by the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) on Tuesday and the respective District Collectors announced a holiday in all the educational institutions in their respective district...////...