Kerala tragedy: Rescuers race against time to search for survivors; toll at 177, nearly 200 missing

PTI, Aug 1, 2024, 8:04 PM IST

Wayanad (Kerala): Rescuers raced against time under harsh conditions to search for survivors trapped in collapsed buildings, two days after massive landslides struck Kerala’s Wayanad district with the death toll climbing to 177 on Thursday. With nearly 200 people missing, the death toll is expected to rise.

While some unconfirmed reports suggested 276 fatalities, Wayanad district authorities, in the latest bulletin, said the landslides have killed at least 177 people, including 25 children and 70 women, and injured more than 200 others, mostly in the worst-hit Mundakkai and Chooralmala areas.

Rescue efforts have been hindered by a combination of challenges, including treacherous terrain due to destroyed roads and bridges, and a shortage of heavy equipment, making it difficult for emergency personnel to clear mud and huge uprooted trees that fell on houses and other buildings, causing total collapse.

State Revenue Minister K Rajan, who is in the disaster-struck region coordinating the rescue efforts, said over 1,600 rescue workers, including from the Army, Navy, NDRF and the police were in the landslide-hit region carrying out the intensive rescue mission.

Political leaders, including Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra among others visited the displaced people, expressing their solidarity with them.

“The first priority is rescuing the victims of the Wayanad tragedy,” Vijayan said after an all-party meeting here.

He said the rescue operation, which is going on with the coordinated efforts of various forces, elected representatives, officials and voluntary organisations and local people, will continue.

Efforts will continue to search the disaster-affected area and the river to recover the bodies of the missing persons, he said while addressing a press conference.

With the completion of the Bailey bridge between Chooralmala and Mundakkai, being built by the Army, the required equipment for rescue operations can be transported to disaster-affected areas, he said.

Gandhi, a former Congress MP from Wayanad, said the calamity was a “terrible tragedy for Wayanad, Kerala, and the nation.”

“We have come here to see the situation. It is quite a painful experience to see that people lost their family members and houses. It’s very difficult to speak to people in these circumstances because you really don’t know what to say to them. It’s been quite a difficult day for me, but we are going to try and help make sure that the survivors get what is due,” he told reporters.
Rajan said the authorities are yet to finalise the number of missing people.

“Initially, we used the voter list to identify the missing persons. But since it does not contain the details of the children, we are now relying on ration cards and other details. We are trying to identify the missing people by checking the ration card details and with the help of ASHA workers and the anganwadi workers,” he said.

In landslide-hit areas, rescue operators are battling challenges including waterlogged soil, as they search through destroyed homes and buildings for survivors or bodies.

With search operations underway in the calamity-ravaged Mundakkai, they said heavy machinery was required to remove the huge trees uprooted in the landslides that also buried several houses.

“We are standing on the terrace of a building and a stench is emanating from underneath, indicating the presence of bodies. The building is fully covered with mud and uprooted trees,” a rescue operator said.

He said that excavators were available for the operations, but they are insufficient for the task.

“Heavy machinery is required to remove the huge trees and carry out search operations in the collapsed buildings. Only then can we make progress in the search operations,” he added.

Rajan said the rescue mission at Mundakkai is a massive one, as usually an incident like this will be limited to one-two kilometres. In this case, the disaster has struck a massive area.

“The bodies were recovered from the Chaliyar river at Pothukal (in Malappuram district). That shows the huge impact of this incident,” the minister said.

The Pothukal area of Chaliyar River is around eight kilometres from Mundakkai.
According to Rajan, currently over 1,600 rescue workers, including the Army, Navy, NDRF, the police, Fire and Rescue among other forces are in the landslide-hit region.

“Apart from them, there is an equal number of locals and other rescue workers who are familiar with the locality helping the operations. A total of over 3,000 people are working tirelessly to find the missing persons,” Rajan said.

Healthcare professionals are working round the clock, grappling with a distressing situation that involves providing critical care to severely injured survivors and performing autopsies.

“Until 7 am today, we have completed 256 autopsies, which include body parts as well. So, it is not 256 full bodies, but also includes body parts. We have handed over 154 bodies to the district administration,” State Health Minister Veena George said.