Kerala rains: Body of last missing child from Kokkayar landslide found

Among the seven people who were found dead in Kokkayar, four were children.
Kokkayar landslide
Kokkayar landslide
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The body of three-year-old Sachu Shahul, the last of the missing persons in the landslide at Kokkayar in Kerala’s Idukki district, was found on the morning of Monday, October 18. Six others were found dead on Sunday, after heavy rains and an ensuing landslide washed them away from their houses in Kokkayar. Only Sachu, son of Shahul Puthuchira, had remained missing at the end of the night's search. Among the others who died in Kokkayar, four were children. Kerala was once more subjected to heavy rains and life-threatening landslides in the past few days, bringing reminders of the 2018 floods and 2019 landslides that took many lives. This year, landslides have struck parts of Idukki and Kottayam districts.

On Sunday, when rescue teams searched for the missing people in Kokkayar through the remains of several houses destroyed in the landslide, they found the bodies of three children hugging each other. Amna was seven, Afsan eight and Ahiyan four. Afsan and Ahiyan were brothers, and Amna their cousin. A little distance away, Amna's brother Ameen, aged 10, and their mother Fauziya (28) were also found dead.

The deceased mother and son were seen hugging each other in their death. Fauzia and the children had come to Kokkayar to attend a relative's wedding. She had also taken a video of the mud water entering the house before the landslide took her life. Fauzia's husband Siyad, a native of Kanjirappally in Kottayam, had been at the site of the landslide when the searches were carried out and the bodies found. He was found sitting among the debris, silent, numb beyond words.

Another person who died during the Kokkayar landslide was Shaji Chirayil, aged 57. All the bodies have been moved to the Medical College Hospital in Kottayam.

The heavy rains of the last few days and the landslides that struck parts of Idukki and Kottayam have taken the lives of 22 people, including 10 children so far. First identified among the dead were six members of a family — three generations — who got washed away after a landslide struck their home in Koottickal of Kottayam on the morning of Saturday, October 16.

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