Two bodies, including that of a child, were discovered on Wednesday following the devastating landslide in Pettiumudi in Kerala’s Idukki district. On the 13th day of search operations, the bodies were discovered in the river bed near Munnar. Relatives of the people who had been missing since the landslide were watching rescue operations, hoping to find the mortal remains of their loved ones.
With this, the death toll from the landslide climbed to 63. Seven more people who went missing in the landslide are yet to be found. As per the available data, 70 people had gone missing. Eighty two people were living in the settlement where 12 escaped the landslide.
One of the bodies discovered on Wednesday was identified to be that of an eight-year-old boy Vishnu. Mortal remains of a woman were also found. On August 6, a massive landslide hit Pettimudi, crushing a settlement area of tea estate workers.
The search is being carried out mainly using radar technology. There was a special six-member team from Chennai for using radars and an officer from the Revenue Department had used dowsing rods in the search. Even the dead bodies of animals were recovered using these techniques. Radars are able to get signals six meters below the soil. These techniques were newly introduced in Pettimudi. Earlier dog squads were used to find bodies, but dogs were not able to cope up with the Munnar weather, so it had to be stopped.
On Wednesday, the search had been comparatively easier as the weather was better and new technologies were introduced. The officials informed that they would continue the search until the last person was found.
A team of the National Disaster Relief Force has been conducting searches in gravel bunks portions of the river. On Wednesday, the two bodies were found near the gravel bunk.
The NDRF, police, fire force and forest departments are actively involved in the search. Revenue and Health departments also have their presence in the area, providing support to the search teams. On Tuesday, three bodies were recovered including that of a six-year-old child.