Seventh day of searching; death toll reach 226, 27 unidentified bodies and 154 body parts buried

KALPETTA: Six dead bodies were recovered from the Wayanad disaster area on Monday, the seventh day. 1174 people from various forces participated in the search. The search continued with 84 Hitachis and five JCBs. 913 volunteers and local residents in 112 teams joined forces with the army in the search. Dog squads of the Army and Tamil Nadu Fire Service also took part in the search apart from the K-9 dog squad. 276 personnel searched in and around Chooralmala town.

A team of 110 people searched the village area using nine Hitachis and found two dead bodies. A team consisting of 101 members of the forest department and the fire force recovered three dead bodies during a search in the forest in the foothills of the river.

One hundred and fifty bodies have been recovered from Wayanad and seventy-six from Nilambur. A total of 181 body parts have been recovered including 24 from Wayanad and 157 from Nilambur.

Cabinet sub-committee members K Rajan, AK Saseendran, OR Kelu and District Collector DR Meghasree evaluated the activities being carried out in disaster areas and relief areas. Revenue Minister K Rajan, Finance Minister KN Balagopal, Local Self-Government Minister MB Rajesh, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Welfare Minister OR Kelu visited the camps and affected areas.

4551 people in 41 camps

• 41 relief camps are functioning in the district. There are 4551 people from 1329 families in the camps. 1675 males, 1810 females and 1066 children.
• There are 2481 people in 726 families in 16 camps for the Chooralmala disaster victims. There are 922 males, 946 females and 613 children.