Search intensified; death toll climbs to 365 in Wayanad tragedy

KALPETTA: The search to find the people who have lost their lives in the Wayanad tragedy has entered the sixth day. Search has been intensified in Mundakkai and Punchiri Mattam. In Chaliyar, the search is divided into two areas. A search will also be conducted near Soochipara Falls. Reports said that there is heavy rain in Chooralmala. It is not clear if this will affect the search.

Meanwhile, unofficial reports said the death toll has climbed to 365. 206 people are still missing. Five bodies were found yesterday. Three bodies and 13 body parts were recovered from Chaliyar river.

A search was conducted yesterday using 31 earthmoving machines in the area of Punchiri Mattam, Mundakkai, Chooralmala, village area and lower part of the river. A search will be conducted using iBod drone today. More places were searched using human rescue radar. Further search can be compared with the old picture of the area. The search will be strengthened by understanding the difference in elevation of the accumulated dunes.

The forest department yesterday deployed more personnel to search the areas sharing forest boundaries. Five dog squads of the Tamil Nadu Fire Department were also deployed. 1264 people in 11 categories of NDRF, Army K9 Dog Squad, Special Operation Group, Madras Engineering Group, Police, Fire Force, Forest, Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue, Medical Team, National Disaster Management Authority Delta Squad, Naval, Coast Guard etc conducted the search in six areas.

A three-member team came from Nilambur for rescue operation and got stuck in the cliff near Soochipara waterfall. Two of them were rescued by the Army in a helicopter. One person was brought out by the volunteers.