Karnataka landslide: Ground penetrating radar deployed to find Malayali lorry driver Arjun, others

Bengaluru: Uttara Kannada Deputy Commissioner Lakshmi Priya said that three people, including Malayali lorry driver Arjun, were trapped under the soil following the landslide near Ankola in Karnataka, and that the search for them will be continued with the help of a ground penetrating radar. She said out of the ten people who went missing in the incident, seven people were found dead. The Collector also said that a team, led by a professor from NIT Karnataka, has arrived with ground penetrating radar and the process to locate Arjun’s lorry is on.

Meanwhile, SP Narayan said that the rescue operation will continue till Arjun is found.

“The rescue operation started at 6 am. The NDRF team, Navy, Fire Force and police are all there. One more person is coming for technical assistance as part of the rescue operation. A professor from NIT, Karnataka is coming. He comes with a device called Ground Penetrating Radar. It can be used to detect whether the lorry is underground or not. They will be there in half an hour. Steps will be taken to find out the whereabouts of the vehicle,” said the Collector.

Earlier, the Kerala government had urged Karnataka to deploy this technology. The move comes at a critical time.

The Collector added that further procedures will be initiated as soon as the technical team arrives. Currently, the rescue operation is on. About seventy people are there.

Apart from Arjun, there are two more people to be found. Among the missing is a woman. The third person has not been identified. A total of 400 meters of mud has been removed. 

“The search is currently focused on the area where the GPS signal of the missing vehicle was last detected. The rescue operation will continue until Arjun is found,” informed SP Narayan.