Kalpetta : Members of the local community have begun searches alongside regular rescue operations at Mundakai and Chooramailai, desperately hoping to find their loved one or someone from their neighbourhood beneath the landslide debris.
The mammoth search began at 8:am Friday. 190 people, staying either in relief camps or their relatives’ homes, enrolled for the search and have joined people’s representatives, and personnel from NDRF, Police, Fire Force and Revenue department scouring the area. The Prime Minister is expected to arrive at 11 pm. The community search will continue for a day more.
One corpse and a single body part were recovered on Thursday raising the count of recovered bodies to 226 and body parts to 196 so far. Of these, 149 bodies were recovered from Meppadi and 77 from Nilambur. If 90 percent or more of a human body is recovered, it Is considered as a corpse else as body parts. The exact number of dead can be determined only after DNA testing on body parts is complete.
420 bodies have been autopsied and body parts send for DNA analysis. 178 bodies and two body parts were handed over to relatives. 233 cremations were held of 47 bodies and 186 body parts.
There currently are 641 families comprising 1942 people in relief camps – 735 men, 743 women and 464 children.
