Wayanad landslides: Rescuers race against time as rain plays truant

Personnel from the Fire and Rescue Service and volunteers walked about 4 km to reach Mukkadi amid incessant rain and utilised the brief pause in rain to resume their work- looking for bodies buried under debris in the village situated on the side of a hill.

Mundakkai (Wayanad): Emergency response teams continued to work under inclement weather conditions at Mundakkai, the epicentre of the Wayanad landslide disaster, which became accessible to rescue vehicles in the late evening on Thursday.

Rescue personnel and volunteers for about 4 km to reach Mundakkai amid incessant rain and utilised the brief pause in rain to resume their work- looking for bodies buried under debris in the village situated on the side of a hill.

Fire and Rescue Service Department accompanied by canine squads worked at three sites where they suspected the presence of victims.  The stench of death overruled other priorities as some chose to skip lunch to look for remains of victims. The steady drizzle which turned into intermittent rain in the afternoon, slowed down the work.

"We are faced with the situation of recovering bodies from both slurry and debris. In both cases, excavators have to be used carefully to ensure no further damage is inflicted on the mortal remains. It's a delicate process requiring patience,"a National Disaster Response Force officer said.

Some of the residents who managed to escape the disaster returned to the areas where their homes stood till four days ago. "I came to see if I could get anything I could recover from the area. The small hill on which my house stood itself has vanished. I do not have any documents with me to even prove my name. It's just lucky that I am alive," said Dasan, a 48-year-old tea estate labourer, who suffered a knee injury while running.

At Chooralmala, the village near the foot of the hill that also saw the full force of the disaster, the Army completed the work on the steel bridge at about 6 pm. Hundreds of army personnel, assisted by volunteers from several NGOs, worked two days straight to assemble the iron girders.  

The bridge, with a capacity to carry 24 tonnes, will provide the much needed access to the road that connects Mundakkai situated 2 km away. Till Thursday evening, the jeeps carrying bodies of victims from Mundakkai stopped near the chasm-like channel created by the landslide. Officials of emergency personnel carried the bodies on a make-shift bridge to the other side from where the ambulances brought them to Meppadi.

An official from the Revenue Department said 180 bodies and 94 body parts have been found till 2.30 pm. "There are still 216 missing persons. The search operation is on to look for them," he said. 

Many of the residents of the two villages who survived the landslide stood next to the rescue personnel. Several of them joined the hundreds of volunteers in providing assistance to the officials.