- Paris Paralympics close with a party after 'historic summer'
- Dolphins ace Hill baffled by 'crazy' police arrest
- 'I let lot of people down', says Fritz after US Open final loss
- Vatican thriller 'Conclave' drums up Oscars buzz in Toronto
- More civilians killed hours after Sudan rejects UN experts' report
- Ronaldo strikes late to seal Portugal win over Scotland
- Drought sinks longest Polish river to record-low level
- East Timor prepares for first papal visit since independence
- Tearful Sinner dedicates US Open title to seriously ill aunt
- Three things on US Open champion Jannik Sinner
- Ten-man Spain sink Switzerland in 4-1 romp
- Hill sparks Dolphins comeback in wild NFL opening day
- Sinner sweeps to US Open title for second Grand Slam triumph
- Smith heroics for England remind Collingwood of Gilchrist
- Thousands protest Mexican judicial reform
- Nissanka leaves Sri Lanka in sight of third Test win over England
- Kendrick Lamar to headline 2025 Super Bowl halftime show
- Thousands defy roadblocks in rally for Pakistan ex-PM Khan
- Roglic wins record-equalling fourth Vuelta
- Russia advances in east Ukraine, launches deadly air strikes
- Cowboys quarterback Prescott agrees record $240 mln extension
- Swiss double in Paralympic wheelchair marathons, Dutch women retain basketball title
- New 'Beetlejuice' creeps its way to top of N.America box office
- South Africa captain Kolisi leaves Racing 92: French Top 14 club
- Funeral for slain athlete Cheptegei in Uganda on Sept 14
- Dolphins star Hill arrested on way to season-opener
- Smith hits back after England collapse against Sri Lanka
- Weather delays final regattas in Louis Vuitton Cup
- Venezuela's Gonzalez Urrutia: from placeholder to opposition pointman
- Marquez thanks rain for San Marino MotoGP win as leader Martin pays for gamble
- Boeing, union reach preliminary deal to avert Seattle-area strike
- Neuville wins Acropolis Rally to close in on world title
- Venezuela's opposition figure fled to Spain to save 'his life'
- Trump, Harris tied on eve of televised presidential debate
- Paris Paralympics the greatest ever, say former Olympics executives
- Pope exit revives Sri Lanka's hopes in third Test against England
- Gunman kills 3 Israelis at West Bank crossing as Gaza war rages
- Marquez wins San Marino MotoGP as leader Martin pays for rain gamble
- Greece to hike fee for cruise passengers to Mykonos and Santorini
- Carsley's 'refreshing' England overhaul launches new era
- Swiss double in wheelchair marathons on final day of Paralympics
- France's Le Pen urges Macron to hold referendum to break deadlock
- Typhoon Yagi weakens, toll rises to 14 in Vietnam
- India's Randhir Singh elected Asian Olympic chief
- Under pressure, UN winds down 'unique' Iraq probe into IS crimes
- 'Proud' athletics great Weir calls time on marathon Paralympic career
- 'Brave' Afghanistan can beat anyone, says skipper ahead of NZ Test
- Vaughan warns England against 'taking the mick' after Sri Lanka collapse
- England's Moeen Ali retires from international cricket
- Japan's Hirata holds off inspired Smyth to win on Asian Tour
'No hope' as anguished families wait for India landslide bodies
The roar of moving earth startled manual labourer Abdul Kareem and his wife awake, allowing them to make a hasty escape before their Indian village was swallowed by muddy water.
Waiting outside an overwhelmed clinic to watch the regular arrival of bodies salvaged by rescue teams, he had no expectations that his relatives and neighbours had managed to do the same.
"My wife's father can't walk well," he told AFP. "I called my sisters the night before, they were at home and they were caught in it.
"We have no hope. That's how bad the situation is there."
Kareem, 52, believes a dozen or more family members living in the area were among at least 150 killed when landslides hit their remote corner of coastal Kerala state before dawn on Tuesday.
Some homes were buried under mud and debris while others were engulfed by raging flood waters, displaced by tonnes of rock and soil.
Wayanad district, famed for its lush tea plantations, experiences regular floods at the height of the annual monsoon season when torrential downpours carry on for days.
Kareem said he was used to taking shelter temporarily with relatives each year when the nearby Iruvazhinji river bursts its banks and partially floods his home.
"But this year it was horrible," he said.
Kareem and hundreds of other distraught locals kept an anxious vigil overnight outside the clinic at Meppadi, which was transformed into a triage centre for the rescued and a makeshift morgue for recovered bodies.
Crowds thronged ambulances as family members craned their necks to catch sight of a familiar article of clothing or jewellery from underneath sheets draped over the dead.
- 'Huge bomb sound' -
A team of volunteers worked to clean off the mud and slush coating the remains of those brought inside for identification.
Arun Dev, who lived close to the clinic and offered his help to the beleaguered medical team, said the force of the floodwaters had caught many who managed to escape the initial impact of the landslides.
"Those who escaped were swept away along with houses, temples and schools," he told AFP.
Dev said rescuers had made the gruesome discovery of severed limbs and other body parts several miles downstream from the disaster site.
"It's going to be bad for the next few days," he said.
The only bridge connecting the worst-hit villages of Chooralmala and Mundakkai was washed away, so rescue teams were forced to use ziplines to cart bodies out of the disaster site.
Soldiers, fire crews and volunteers have rescued hundreds of people while more than 3,000 others are taking shelter in relief camps set up nearby.
Tea plantation worker Kedarbai told AFP the roar of the landslide had jolted her awake, giving her time to flee her bedroom with her young child before it was buried by mud.
"It was like a huge bomb sound," the 30-year-old, who goes by one name, told AFP.
"We were not sure what was going to happen to us," she said. "We're very lucky to be alive."
G.Machado--PC