'There is a landslide...': Wayanad woman's distress calls before death emerges

Wayanad landslides: Neethu Jojo told a doctor that water was flowing inside her house, which was surrounded by debris and cars.

Neethu Jojo, a staffer at a private hospital in Wayanad, was one of the first persons to alert people about the landslide on July 30. However, before rescue workers could reach her, she died in the natural disaster.

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Jojo's distress call has gone viral. According to the recording, accessed by PTI, she sought help for herself and a couple of other families trapped in her house when the landslide hit Chooralmala.

She told an employee at her hospital that water was flowing inside her house, which was surrounded by debris and cars.

Neethu was speaking to a staff member of Dr Moopen's Medical College who sought all the details and assured them that help was on the way.

In her call recording, she said she was calling everyone she knew.

"There is a landslide at Chooralmala. I live behind the school here. Can you please send someone to help us?" she said in the call.

Wayanad: What Neethu Jojo told a doctor at her hospital?

She had also called Dr Shanavas Palliyal, the DGM of Dr. Moopen's Medical College, where she was working as an office staff.

The doctor told the news agency that she sounded very distressed and called for help.

"I immediately informed the police and our ambulance from the hospital left for Chooralmala. The road was blocked due to uprooted trees. Our ambulance driver and another staff member were regularly in contact with her but after the second wave of landslide, the connection was lost," Palliyal told PTI.

The rescue workers couldn't reach Neethu because the Chooralmala bridge had washed away.

The doctor said she and her neighbours were trapped in a room and couldn't escape before the next wave of the landslide.

Four staff members of the hospital, including Neethu, lost their lives in the incident.

Neethu's body was found away from the house.

Kerala minister K Rajan said on Sunday that authorities have found 220 bodies so far and 180 people are still missing. 160 body parts have also been found. 34 bodies are still unidentified.

With inputs from PTI