Thiruvananthapuram: The death toll in the Wayanad landside tragedy keeps on escalating as rescue workers recover more bodies from under the debris. The death toll crossed 150 by 10 am on Wednesday. Over 200 people are reported missing.
Search operations resumed at Mundakkai, Chooralmala and Attamala regions from the early hours of the day. A landslide from the Vellarimala mountains had ravaged the region during the wee hours of Tuesday, July 30.
Government sources said that so far, missing reports of over 200 people have been registered by their relatives at various control rooms. But the real number of missing people can only be known after detailed compilation of data from various sources.
Apart from resorts and hotels, there are a large number of home stays from where many people disappeared due to the landslide. Even as there were restrictions on people going to the region owing to the rough weather, some home stays were allegedly accommodating tourists illegally. There were reports of 4 tourists, including a doctor from Odisha, of being trapped in the landside. The doctor and a para-medical staff were admitted to a hospital in Wayanad with serious injuries.
Panchayat ward member of Chooralmala Noorudeen C K told DH that owing to the rough weather many people in the region had shifted to other places. Hence efforts are being made to trace the whereabouts of each and every one missing from the locality.
Trained sniffer dogs are being used to detect the presence of human bodies under the debris. Priority is being given to take out those who are alive. Many houses are buried under the debris. Hence, rescue workers are entering houses by breaking the concrete roof slabs, which is making the rescue efforts more time consuming.
So far around 30 bodies as well as many body parts were recovered from the Pothukal area in Nilambur, Malappuram, around 40 kilometres away from the landslide hit spots of Mepadi in Wayanad. Hence, search operations is also being carried along the river that flows through the forest areas.
Hospitals continue to witness heart-rending scenes of people trying to search for missing family members and relatives among the dead and the injured. Many families were totally wiped off in the landslide, while many families lost majority of its members.