Death toll in Kerala landslide goes up to 55

PTI, Aug 12, 2020, 6:37 PM IST

Idukki: The death toll in the landslide at Pettimudi near Munnar in the high-range Idukki district has gone up to 55 with three more bodies being recovered from the debris on Wednesday, officials said.

Operations led by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) are continuing in the area even on the sixth day today to trace 15 more missing people.

“Till now, we have recovered 55 bodies. Earlier we rescued 12 people. Now 15 people are missing. The search is on even on the sixth day..weather is favourable today for the search operations,” Idukki DC H Dineshan stated.

The DC said 82 people were affected in the landslide on August 7. The settlements of estate workers were swept away by the landslip near Rajamala here and various agencies have been engaged in the rescue operations since then.

Huge mounds of earth and slush had destroyed a row of 20 one-room ‘row houses’ made of tin and asbestos sheets, which was housing at least 82 workers and their families early Friday morning.