According to official information, 177 people have lost their lives and rescue operations are being done to locate the missing people.
Published Jul 31, 2024 | 5:27 PM ⚊ Updated Jul 31, 2024 | 5:27 PM
An image from the landslide site in Wayanad.
The hospitals in Wayanad that treat the patients injured due to the massive landslide that wiped away the Meppadi area were filled with despair and pain on Wednesday, 31 July, a day after the tragedy.
According to official information, 177 people have lost their lives and search and rescue operations are being done to locate the missing people. Meanwhile, the state Revenue Department, in an official release, said that 225 people are missing in the area.
In 73 relief camps in the area, 7,349 people, including 17 pregnant women, are being accommodated. Of the dead, 75 have been identified and post-mortems of 123 have been completed.
People of all ages were seen crying inconsolably as they identified the bodies of loved ones, lined one after another in coffin refrigerators at the Meppadi Family Health Centre and the Nilambur Government Hospital, or took one last fond look at them.
Similar scenes were also seen where remains were buried or cremated close to one another.
The bodies of 110 deceased people were brought to Meppadi Family Health Centre, including 58 men and 52 women.
Relatives have identified 13 people among them. Further, five body parts were also kept at the hospital.
The bodies of 42 people are there in the Nilambur District Hospital, including 23 men, 17 women and 2 children. 32 body parts are also there at the hospital.
Currently, the WIMS Hospital in Meppadi only cares for injured people from the affected areas.
144 people reported at the hospital, out of which 66 are still undergoing treatment.
The Public Relations Officer of the hospital said that 10 deaths were reported from the hospital.
One surgery was also done at the hospital. Meanwhile, a temporary hospital was set up at the Meppadi Polytechnic College.
The Wayanad district administration released images of several bodies being cremated side-by-side in wood- and gas-based cremation furnaces.
At the Meppadi Juma Masjid, a member of the mosque committee said arrangements have been made to bury the bodies.
“As and when the remains are identified and brought here, they will be buried. Arrangements for that have been made, Everyone is helping out,” the committee member said.
Over 180 people are missing and more than 300 houses were completely destroyed in the landslides that hit the Mundakkai and Chooralmala areas of the district, according to the district administration.
According to the district administration, the numbers of those who died are expected to increase even more and hundreds are feared to be buried under the debris.
The Kerala government decided to set up a medical point with oxygen ambulances at the control room in Chooralmala to provide immediate medical assistance to those rescued from the landslide-hit areas in Wayanad.
The decision was taken at a ministerial meeting held at the Wayanad Collectorate.
“To provide immediate medical assistance to those rescued, a medical point facility, including oxygen ambulances, will be set up at the Chooralmala control room,” an official release said.
A senior official will be appointed to coordinate the efforts, and doctors and other health workers will be deployed as needed.
A team of doctors from four cooperative hospitals, including Kozhikode and Thalassery, are ready to serve at the medical point, said Cooperation Minister VN Vasavan.
The meeting was attended by Ministers PA Muhammad Riyas, AK Saseendran, V Abdurahman, K Krishnankutty, GR Anil, Ramachandran Kadannappalli, OR Kelu, and special officer for rescue operations Seeram Sambasiva Rao, and ADM K Devaki.
Massive landslides triggered by torrential rains struck Mundakkai, Chooralmala, Attamala, and Noolpuzha hamlets in the early hours of Tuesday, killing several people, including women and children.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil with inputs from Sreelakshmi Soman and PTI)
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