Wayanad, July 31 (UNI) The death toll in landslides in Kerala’s Wayand district rose to 162 on Wednesday with 91 people still missing, officials said.
A total of 191 injured were undergoing medical treatment at various hospitals after the massive landslides hit Mundakkai and Choormala in Vellarimala village in Meppadi early on Tuesday, officials said.
Most parts of the Vellarimala village , with 1,200 families living in Choorimala, Attamala and Mundakkai areas was washed away in the landslides.
“Many peoples are still suspect to trapped inside the debris, said K Babu, Mundakkai panchayat member.
Meanwhile, the Army and the Kerala fire force constructed a temporary bridge to connect Mundakkai from Choorimala to evacuate the injured and shifted the bodies from the accident site.
According to official sources, 78 dead bodies were kept in the Community Health Centre at Meppadi and 31 bodies were kept at Nilambur district hospital in Malappuram district.
A total of 83 bodies have been identified and the postmortem of 143 bodies completed, officials said.
Five bodies were recovered from the debris of three houses at Mundakkai and two bodies has found from Chaliyar river at Pothukal, which was 38 kilometres away from the landslide site at Mundakkai.
Four teams of Army personnel comprising around 150 militarymen are engaged in the rescue operations at Choormala.
Apart from the Defence Security Corpse (DSC, Kannur unit), Madras Engineering Wing of the Army, Naval personnel from Indian Naval Academy, Ezhimala, National Disaster Response Force are also combing the rescue mission on the second day.
A baily bridge is being moved from Madras Engineering group centre from Bangalore by road and the remaining parts and equipment are being airlifted from Delhi Cantonment to speed up the rescue operations.
Revenue Minister K Rajan and four other ministers are still camping at Mundakkai areas to assist in rescue and search operations.
In another incident, Health Minister Veena George met an accident, while enroute to Wayanad at Areekode road in Malappuram district around 7 am, after her car collided with a motor bike, scooter and an electric pole.
George suffered minor injuries on her hands and head and has been admitted to Manjeri Medical College hospital.
The passengers of the scooter and motor bike, Ibrahim and Padmaja, were also admitted to hospital with minor injuries.
