Chances of rescue workers spotting more survivors in disaster zone appear remote, says CM
As the third day of the search and rescue operations wound down, the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) put the official death toll at 177.
People who lost their loved ones in the landslides in Wayanad wait for their bodies at Meppadi Higher Secondary School.
| Photo Credit: Thulasi Kakkat
With the sun setting on Thursday’s search and rescue operations, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the chances of finding more survivors trapped in the landslide-hit Mundakkai, Chooralmala and Attamala appeared dim.
At an all-party meeting chaired by Mr. Vijayan in Wayanad, the General Officer Commanding (GOC), Kerala-Karnataka sub-area, Major General V.T. Mathew, informed the government that the odds were that no one was left alive in the disaster zone. Major General Mathew is in charge of the Army’s rescue efforts.
As the third day of the search and rescue operations wound down, the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) put the official death toll at 177.
The victims included 81 men, 70 women and 25 children. Next of kin have identified 98 bodies. As many as 29 students of Mundakkai and Vellarimala government schools were missing.
Forensic doctors could not identify the gender of one body. They autopsied 225 bodies, many mangled. Rescue workers discovered 92 dismembered bodies washed up on the shores of downstream Chaliyar.
Officials feared the number of dead could rise further as more personnel and equipment reached the marooned Mundakkai village through the Bailey bridge erected by the Army over the Iruravazhinji river. The earthfall had washed a bridge that spanned the river on July 30, rendering access to Mundakkai hazardous.
Emergency responders rescued 234 persons from the disaster zone on Thursday. The landslide decimated an estimated 348 houses.
Mr. Vijayan told a press conference in Wayanad that efforts to find if there were any bodies still buried under the mud would continue apace. Sniffer dogs were aiding the rescue effort.
The government has appointed a nodal officer to coordinate the search for those missing. More than 1,000 police personnel were aiding the Army and NDRF teams. The Karnataka government has supplied Kerala with additional mobile morgue freezers.
Mr. Vijayan said the government would organise relief camps as separate units for displaced families to ensure their privacy. Authorities would restrict access to these camps. They have banned cameras in the relief centres.
The district administration will set up desks to register visitors and demarcated a common area for meetings and interviews.
Mr. Vijayan said General Education department officials would visit the relief camps, organise children according to their grades, and dispatch teachers and counsellors to ensure their education continued unimpeded despite the tragedy.
Mr. Vijayan said the government has prioritised epidemic prevention. Panchayat authorities would cremate unclaimed bodies and unidentified body parts after a reasonable waiting period and as per the Health department’s protocol.
The Health department has also issued directives to dispose of scientifically the carcasses of hundreds of livestock killed in the landslide.
Mr. Vijayan said the government and emergency services were in for the long haul. He said search and rescue teams have a lot of unexplored and hazardous ground to cover, and collapsed buildings and wobbly structures might contain more bodies.
Mr Vijayan said it would take weeks or months for rescue teams to offer a complete closure to the victims’ families.
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Kerala
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avalanche/landslide
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natural disasters