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Wayanad landslides: IAF helicopters airlift rescue teams to search for victims at remote Soochipara waterfalls
Rescue teams comprise Kerala Police’s Special Operations Group, Army men, and Forest department officials
Specialist team of soldiers from Pangode Military Station who were airlifted from Kalpetta in Wayanad winches down at the Soochipara waterfalls area in an Indian Air Force helicopter on August 6 for search and rescue operations.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopters airlifted two search and rescue teams to the remote Soochipara waterfalls and the densely forested Sunrise Valley beyond on August 6 to scout for bodies of Wayanad landslide victims washed downstream by the massive earthfall on July 30.
At around 11.30 a.m., the choppers lifted off with rescue teams comprising the Kerala Police’s Special Operations Group (SOG), Army men, and Forest department officials from the Subha Krishna Memorial Jain (SKMJ) school grounds in Kalpetta in Wayanad.
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Army’s high-altitude operations experts are on board. The SOG personnel also specialises in abseiling from helicopters to reach hostile terrain below. The teams are carrying high-end rappelling gear.
#Wayanad | A specialist team of soldiers from Pangode Military Station who were airlifted from Kalpetta in Wayanad winches down at the Soochipara waterfalls area in an Indian Air Force helicopter on Tuesday for search and rescue operations.
🎥Special Arrangement pic.twitter.com/xXdbD12tt5— The Hindu (@the_hindu) August 6, 2024
Revenue Minister K. Rajan, who heads the Cabinet subcommittee in charge of Wayanad, briefly outlined the hazardous nature of the Soochipara operation on August 5.
He said the search teams would scour the dense undergrowth on the edges of the waterfall and at least two rapids downstream.
The operation entailed negotiating through the thick undergrowth and searching for bodies in the overhang of bushes, water reeds and gnarled tree roots dipping into the water.
Mr. Rajan said the operation would cover either side downstream of Soochipara waterfalls till the Chaliyar river in the Malappuram district.
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Mr. Rajan had said the chances of finding survivors in the dense and remote Sunrise Valley locality remained remote. However, the government was sworn to give closure to the families of 149 missing persons. The search for victims would continue till all hope was exhausted.
Chaliyar search
Simultaneously, rescue workers fanned out across the outlying Pothukal, Meenmutty, and Iruttikutti Nagar on the banks of the Chaliyar river, which had yielded scores of bodies and body parts of victims washed down by the catastrophic landslide at Chooralmala, Mundakkai and Attamala localities in upstream Wayanad on July 30.
Sniffer dog squads and their handlers, helicopters, Navy personnel on dinghies, local guides, aerial drones kitted out with ground-penetrating radars, and divers were aiding the search.
Ground zero
Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Law and Order, M.R. Ajith Kumar, told reporters in Wayanad that swampy mud covered a large expanse of the ground zero. Incessant rains had cut off rescue workers from a swathe of soggy ground.
However, with the rains ceasing, the mud has begun to dry up. The police expect an inspection of the locality with ground-penetrating radars and sniffer dogs might yield more bodies.
Mr. Kumar said the area had hidden traps that could ensnare search team members, including wells, collapsed houses and septic tanks lying submerged in the mud.
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