Rain hinders rescue efforts as death toll rises in India

CHOORALMALA, India — Soldiers and rescuers worked through slush and rocks under steady rain, looking for survivors and searching for bodies in the hills of India's Kerala state on Wednesday, a day after more than 167 people were killed in monsoon landslides.

Nearly 1,600 people had been rescued from the hillside villages and tea and cardamom estates in Wayanad district, and 225 were still missing, authorities said on Wednesday. They said at least 167 people died and 195 were injured, while the local Asianet news TV channel put the death toll at 230.

Chinese Ambassador to India Xu Feihong said his thoughts are with the bereaved families.