PM assures Kerala all help; asks Union ministers to chip in

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday expressed anguish over the loss of lives in landslides in Kerala's Wayanad district and assured Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan of all possible help from the Centre to deal with the crisis.

The prime minister announced an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh for the next of kin of the deceased. The injured would be given Rs 50,000.

Official sources said the prime minister also spoke to the two Union ministers from the state, Suresh Gopi and George Kurien, over the prevailing situation.

Modi has asked BJP president J P Nadda to mobilise party workers in the region to assist in the ongoing relief work, they said.