Dead bodies floated like wooden logs, hellish experience for rescue team at Pothukallu

Malappuram: The murky, ghastly images will surely haunt those involved in the rescue mission along the riverside of Chaliyar at Pothukallu near Nilambur, for a long time. A mere glance at the floating body parts, ravaged by the fury of nature, would leave anyone in eternal pain. Even the most atheistic members of the rescue team scouring the Pothukallu region near Nilambur on the riverside of Chaliyar and the nearby forest have only one prayer in mind: that there will be no more body parts to recover. The terrible impact of the landslide becomes evident when one realizes that Pothukallu is located about 30 km away from Mundakkai, where the landslide occurred on Tuesday.

Since Tuesday morning, the team has retrieved 52 dead bodies and 75 human body parts, as bodies and body parts floated through the river for around 30 km. Of the 52 dead bodies, 28 have been identified as male, 21 as female, and two as boys. The remaining one is so mutilated that it cannot be identified as male or female. In addition, rescue teams engaged in the search operations have recovered around 75 human body parts.

On Tuesday, the rescuers retrieved 32 dead bodies and 25 body parts. On Wednesday, they recovered 20 more dead bodies and 59 human body parts. Post-mortem examinations have been conducted on all the dead bodies and body parts recovered from the river on Tuesday. The health department is working overtime, and it is expected that the remaining post-mortems will be completed by Wednesday night.

Out of the 52 dead bodies, relatives have identified three. These bodies have been handed over to them after completing the formalities. Steps have been taken to transport the rest of the bodies to Wayanad to facilitate easier identification. So far, 28 dead bodies and 28 body parts have been sent to Wayanad from Nilambur District Hospital. All the dead bodies and body parts will be moved to Meppadi CHC. The bodies and body parts will be transported to Wayanad in freezers. The district administration has facilitated ambulances for this purpose and brought them to the district hospital at Nilambur.

So far, 30 ambulances have been dispatched to Wayanad. The district administration has sent two volunteers along with the freezers to Wayanad. Additionally, the administration arranged for a pilot vehicle and an escort vehicle to accompany the ambulances.