Mass Burial of Unidentified Bodies, Body Parts of Victims of Landslide at Puthumala

Thiruvananthapuram: A week after the devastating landslides in Mundakkai and Chooralamala in Wayanad district of Kerala, the district authorities on Monday conducted a mass burial for the unidentified victims of the tragedy.

The mass burial accompanied by chanting of prayers by religious leaders of all faiths, began in the afternoon. A mass burial site at Puthumala near Meppadi has been established, where approximately 200 graves have been dug in a 64-cent burial ground spread across an estate.

This is the same location where a massive landslide occurred in 2019.

Each unidentified body and body part is to be buried in separate graves. Every body part is treated with the same reverence as a whole body and is interred with due respect. Each grave is properly marked for future identification. The burial is carried out with Christian, Hindu, and Islamic rites. Many volunteers have come together to assist the officials with the mass burial.

According to officials, 187 bodies will be buried at the mass burial site on Monday.

Meanwhile, search operations to find the missing persons in the landslide-affected areas of Mundakkai and Chooralmala commenced on Monday.

Two bodies were recovered from the Chooralmala village road earlier in the day. Search operations were carried out in 12 designated zones by teams of 50 persons each.

The search teams, consisting of the army, navy, forest, NDRF, police personnel, dog squads, and volunteers, resumed their efforts in the morning.

Revenue Minister K Rajan reported that 180 people are still missing in the disaster-stricken regions of Mundakkai and Chooralmala.

The death toll in one of the worst disasters Kerala witnessed on July 30, has risen to 402. Of those recovered, 180 were body parts of the victims retrieved from the debris in the landslide-hit areas and the Chaliyar River.

Meanwhile, official records put the death toll on Monday at 222, with 180 individuals still unaccounted for.

Maj Gen V T Mathew returns

Major General V T Mathew, who spearheaded the rescue operations in the disaster-stricken areas of Chooralmala, Mundakkai, and nearby regions in Wayanad district, returned on Monday. His teams successfully rescued hundreds from the affected zones. The district administration honored the army officer with a farewell.

General Mathews will continue to oversee the rescue and search efforts from the Kerala-Karnataka headquarters in Bangalore. Approximately 500 personnel, including the highly trained soldiers from the Madras Engineering Group, were involved in building the Bailey Bridge. This bridge significantly improved access for a large number of rescue workers, heavy machinery, and earthmovers to Mundakkai, enabling broader search operations.

Additionally, a pedestrian overbridge was erected to aid emergency rescue efforts.

Drones for delivering food packets

Drones have been utilized to periodically deliver food to rescue workers at The Cane Hill. Advanced drones, with the capacity to carry food packets for up to 10 people simultaneously, were deployed. These drones were operated to hand-deliver food to personnel operating heavy machinery like Hitachi and JCB. This system was established to expedite the delivery of food and water to rescue workers. Additionally, food is delivered to workers in vehicles.

The community kitchen at Meppadi Polytechnic is bustling with activity as the Kerala Hotel Restaurant Association, under the guidance of the Food Safety Department, prepares meals for rescue workers. Daily, approximately 7,000 food packets are distributed from this location.

Bullet points

Deaths officially confirmed - 222

Men - 97

Female - 88

Children - 37

Number of bodies identified by relatives - 172

Number of body parts found - 180

Number of bodies post-mortem done - 222

Number of body parts performed post-mortem - 161

The number of bodies handed over to the district administration -71

Number of body parts handed over to district administration - 132

Number of bodies received from Nilambur District Hospital and handed over to relatives - 37

Number of bodies handed over to relatives - 135

Number of people taken to hospitals from the disaster area - 572

Those undergoing treatment at various hospitals in Wayanad, Kozhikode and Malappuram districts - 91

Those discharged from hospitals - 256