Disclaimer: The following content does contain some gory details so please go ahead with caution.
As reported by Deccan chronicle here:
“Thiruvananthapuram: Four additional bodies were retrieved from a forest area in the Soochipara – Kanthanpara region during the joint search conducted by rescue teams and family members of the missing persons as part of “Peoples Search” carried out on Friday.
As reported in media:
Three bodies and a severed leg were found but if the rest of the body is there or not can only be found by searching the place. It seems as if the areas were not touched before As the bodies were seen lying in plain sight and were undisturbed. The site was Also undisturbed and nothing else has not been Found yet. A thorough search is required to determine whether more bodies are there or not.
The search teams reported that four bodies were recovered during the operation, and a severed leg was also found lodged in a tree. The authorities planned to airlift the decomposed bodies.”
(PC: THE HINDU)
More than 2000 people joined this people’s search operation in the areas of Mundakkai and Chooralmala to find those who were missing.
With the help of NDRF, Fire Force, police, revenue department staff, elected officials, and volunteers, the locals went on and embarked on this mission with the determination to use every possible means to locate as many individuals as possible.
The search operation took place from 7 am to 12:30 pm on Friday, with around 190 registered individuals from relief camps, relatives’ homes, and other locations joining the search efforts to help and find everyone who is missing.
Earlier the people who volunteered to help were taken to the location for people to be searched for.
The search operation took place in Punchirimattam, the epicenter of the landslide disaster, parts of Mundakkai town, and Chooralmala School Road. The Minister for Tourism and Public Works Department, Mohammad Riyaz joined the initial team that arrived near the affected houses in Punchirimattam.
A detailed search was carried out at places that people pointed out to where the last person was seen missing. The suspected areas were inspected further by removing the soil using earthmovers. A police dog was Also involved in the search to help find the people.
As again reported by the Deccan chronicles:
“Representatives of the people, the National Disaster Response Force, fire services, police, revenue authorities, and volunteers were involved in the search. The district administration’s records indicate that 131 individuals are missing following the tragedy. Searches are actively underway to locate them. The people’s task force conducted searches in the primary areas, dividing them into six sections.”
There are possibilities of more bodies here in this tragic Landslide.
As reported by The Hindu:
“Officials suspect that more bodies of the victims, washed downstream from Chooralmala, Mundakkai, and Attamala, could be trapped in the overhang of bushes, water, reeds, gnarled tree roots and boulders on the edges of the waterfall and rapids in the remote Sun Rise Valley.
Earlier, the government had said the search operation in Sun Rise Valley would cover either side downstream of Soochipara waterfalls till the Chaliyar river in the Malappuram district. Forest enforcers also scoured forested Parappanpara and Kalakkanpuzha rivers downstream of the disaster zone. They had reached the locality, negotiating a switchback of rugged hills and forested valleys”.
Let’s hope and pray for the best and hope the remaining families find the closure they need and the bodies to be found.
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