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3 more bodies recovered, toll in Wayanad mudslide rises to 6
The death toll in the Kalladi mudslide in Wayanad rose to six on Thursday as the remains of three people were retrieved by rescue teams on the third day of the disaster, an official with the district control room said
The death toll in the Kalladi mudslide in Wayanad rose to six on Thursday as the remains of three people were retrieved by rescue teams on the third day of the disaster, an official with the district control room said. Two persons remain missing.
The deceased were identified as Rahul Sharma (26) from Himachal Pradesh, Azharuddin Ansari (32) from Uttar Pradesh and Md Imran Khan (30) from Bihar. Their remains were identified by respective family members who had arrived in Wayanad.
While Sharma was a site engineer of the Wayanad twin tunnel project, Ansari was a surveyor. Khan was employed as an excavator operator at the project site.
“Ansari’s body was retrieved first on Thursday by rescue personnel from an area near the Meenakshi bridge. Subsequent searches from an area below the bridge and close to the river banks led to the bodies of Sharma and Khan being found. The searches have stopped today. They will continue tomorrow,” said an official of the district administration.
Sharma’s family members, including his father and wife, had reached Wayanad in the hopes that he would be rescued alive. He had gotten married in March this year.
“On Thursday morning, I was able to identify his body near the accident site, following which we informed the rescue team. It is an extremely difficult time for all of us. Losing our son in such a tragic manner, just a few months after his marriage, is heartbreaking,” Ramveer Sharma, the victim’s maternal uncle, told HT.
Agriculture minister and local MLA T Siddique, who is overseeing the rescue operations, said favourable weather conditions on Thursday played a big factor in finding the bodies of those missing.
“With the rains largely staying away today, the river has been calmer and we were able to do effective searches on the river-banks. We are making use of the favourable weather conditions to strengthen our searches. We are using the services of both cadaver dogs as well as large machinery in the searches,” Siddique said.
Vikram Rana, the construction manager from Himachal Pradesh, and Rakesh, the surveyor from West Bengal, continue to be missing, said officials.
The disaster occurred in the morning hours of July 7 (Tuesday) in Kalladi when the debris, accumulated as part of the excavation works of the tunnel on the Meppadi side, slid down under the force of heavy monsoon rains. The mudslide swept away several temporary shelters housing labourers, a house, and a church.
The disaster site is close to the proposed mouth of a 8-km long twin tube tunnel being constructed between Meppadi and Anakkampoyil. The tunnel, set to be completed by 2029, is envisaged as an all-weather road to Wayanad and reduce congestion on the present Thamarassery Ghat road. Following the disaster on Tuesday, the State government has ordered a pause on the tunnel’s construction and declared detailed probes to ascertain the reasons behind the mudslide.
