Wayanad tragedy: Unidentified dead bodies to be laid to rest at Puthumala

WAYANAD: Unidentified victims of the Wayanad landslide disaster that shook the country will be laid to rest at Puthumala. Minister PK Rajan said that eight bodies will be buried today. Burial will be done in pits dug close to each other on Harrison Plantation land. Funeral services will be conducted with interfaith prayers. 32 pits have been prepared at present. The mass burial facility has been prepared at the site of the previous landslide disaster in Puthumala.

Meanwhile, the death toll in the disaster has risen to 369. 206 people are yet to be found. More than 1,000 rescuers took part in the mission in six areas today as the search entered its sixth day. A dead body and seven body parts were found in the search conducted today in the Chaliyar River and Munderi forest. 213 dead bodies have been recovered from the Chaliyar River so far. This includes 74 dead bodies and 139 body parts.

Blood samples of the relatives of those who died in the disaster are being collected for scientific examination to identify the dead bodies and body parts. DNAs were collected from unidentifiable bodies recovered from the disaster area in the first phase. The next step is to collect a match between the blood samples and DNAs that are being collected now.