Wayanad landslides: Toll rises to 239 as chances of survivors fall, 150 missing

Rescue teams are working tirelessly in the disaster-affected areas of Mundakkai, Chooralmala, and Attamala, where many people remain unaccounted for. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan acknowledged the difficulties in retrieving bodies but assured that rescue operations were progressing. So far, 1,592 people have been rescued, and 68 families, comprising 208 people, have been moved to relief camps. Additionally, 1,386 people who were isolated in different locations have been relocated to seven relief camps. Out of the 207 people moved to hospitals and health centers, 90 are currently undergoing treatment.

The devastation in Mundakkai and Chooral Mala is unprecedented, with both locales almost entirely destroyed.

Rescue workers were looking under collapsed roofs and debris of destroyed houses for victims and possible survivors of the landslides. According to visuals aired on TV channels, at one place, army personnel could be seen breaking the tin roof of a house that was completely submerged in mud and using ropes to reach inside to retrieve the bodies of those trapped there. A local man, who went inside one such house, said he saw mud-covered bodies in sitting positions on chairs and lying down on cots.

“The deceased persons might be sitting or lying down when the tragedy struck them in the wee hours of Tuesday,” he said.

However, authorities have not officially responded about this so far.

With mounds of mud and debris here and there and giant boulders brought down by the flood waters from the hilltop, it would be hard for anyone to believe that the place was a busy junction and a town until a day ago.

“Mundakkai is now wiped out from the map of Wayanad. Nothing is left here. You can see...there is nothing other than mud and boulders here. We could not even walk properly due to this thick mud...Then how do we search for our beloved ones buried beneath the ground?” another man asked with teary eyes.

Meanwhile, Kerala health minister Veena George was involved in an accident near Manjeri here on Wednesday morning while she was travelling to hit Wayanad district to coordinate the rescue operations there.

According to police, the accident occurred around 7.10 am when the minister's vehicle reportedly hit a two-wheeler.

The minister was taken to the government medical college in Manjeri, police said, adding that her condition was not serious.

District authorities in Wayanad started collecting data to determine the number of people missing following the massive tragedy, as rescue operations resumed to trace persons suspected to be trapped.

A special team at the District Emergency Operation Centre is compiling data on the number of people residing in the area, those found after the landslide, and the number of persons missing, a district administration official told reporters early Wednesday.