IDUKKI: One person was killed and three went missing, and 10 acres of agricultural land washed away, when flood water mixed with boulders came gushing down from top of a hill at Upputhodu near Thopramkudy in Idukki on Friday.
The deceased is Mathew, 65 of Ayyappankunnel house, Upputhodu. However, the bodies of Mathews’s wife Rajamma, 63, son Visakh 26, Visakh’s friend Dint, 26, are yet to be recovered.“The landslide took place at around 9.40 am.
The victims had just reached the house after providing food at the nearest relief camp. Mathew’s house is located just below a risky hill slope near St Joseph’s Church. The hill came crashing down on one part of their house. Within seconds, the entire house, including the inmates and their belongings, was swept away in the gushing waters,” said a local resident. Locals rushed to the spot and carried out rescue operation. Mathew’s body was unearthed from the mud.
Two die at Chalakkudy
Thrissur: While rescue operations are continuing at Chalakkudy, one of the worst hit regions in the district after the gushing water from the Chalakkudy River submerged and isolated the entire area, two aged people sheltered in the psychiatric care centre of Divine Retreat Centre at Muringoor died on Friday. More than 1,000 people were stuck in the retreat centre, which was isolated in the flood. The psychiatric care centre and the retreat centre were the two buildings which camped around 500 people each. Marshal, a coordinator of the camps, said, “We got some food at around 3 am on Saturday, but it was not enough. There are children among us and they have been dangerously tired due to starvation.”