Rescuers help residents to move to a safer place, at a landslide site after multiple landslides in the hills, in Wayanad, in the southern state of Kerala.
Credit: Reuters Photo
Thiruvananthapuram: While no more bodies were recovered on Tuesday from the landslide hit areas of Wayanad and the river extending up the Chaliyar in adjacent Malappuram district, the search is being extended to the Arabian sea.
Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that the Indian Coast Guard and the Navy were alerted to check for any bodies in the Arabian sea.
The Chaliyar river in Malappuram, from where 76 bodies and 161 body parts were recovered, falls in the Arabian sea at Beypore in Kozhikode, which is at around 85 kilometres away from the landslide ravaged Mundakai - Chooralmala region.
The total death toll remains at 224 while the unofficial number crossed 400. Burial of unidentified bodies and body parts was progressing.
The state government also decided to publish the list of 152 persons still missing as part of a vetting process. There could be chances of persons in the missing persons' list with the government remaining in some relatives' houses. Hence the list is being published.
The chief minister said that the chief secretary would be holding discussion with senior officials of the defence forces on continuing the search operation. The government's aim is to ensure that no regions are left unchecked.
The chief minister also said that service organisations of state government employees informed that all government employees would be voluntarily contributing five days salary for the rehabilitation of the landslide hit.