WAYANAD: Hope sprung from the debris of despair in Kerala’s Wayanad Friday after rescuers found a stranded four-member family safe three days after the landslide in Mundakkai, but there was little respite elsewhere as the death toll climbed to 344.
A search for survivors using an advanced radar system briefly yielded what rescuers thought was a sign of “breathing” in a pile of mud and rubble.But it wasn’t to be. The mission was called off around 9.15pm, officials said.
The rescued family had been cut off from the rest of the hilly region, although their house survived the landslide. Their relatives contacted officials and provided the coordinates for a rescue attempt.
A defence spokesperson said Vellarimala residents John K J, Jomol John, Christene John and Abraham John were evacuated to a nearby relief camp through a safe route. “The family was stuck in their house since Tuesday. They are safe and healthy, albeit traumatised,” the officer said.
The bodies retrieved so far include 85 women and 29 children. A total of 119 bodies have been handed over to the victims’ kin after autopsy.
The district administration pegged the number of people missing till Friday evening at 218, based on Aadhaar records, details of tourist arrivals, and inputs from ASHA workers and the injured.
District collector Meghashree D R said steps had been initiated to match retrieved body parts with the families of those missing through DNA testing. Unidentified bodies would be laid to rest in public graveyards in the district.
Tourism minister P A Mohammed Riyas said around 1,374 rescue personnel were continuing the search operation in the landslide-hit areas. Ground-penetrating radars and drones are also being used.
The operation received an impetus after the construction of the Bailey bridge, which helped rescue teams move heavy machinery to the worst-affected Mundakkai and Chooralmala hamlets. Around 40 rescue teams and trained dogs are conducting the search across six zones.
MP Rahul Gandhi, who arrived Thursday along with his sister Priyanka Vadra, promised that Congress would build over 100 houses in Wayanad.