A damaged house stands amid the debris at the debris at the landslide- hit Mundakkai in Wayanad. (Photo | A Sanesh, EPS)
Despite heavy rains and challenging terrain, 40 rescue teams are continuing their search operations in Wayanad's landslide hit areas.
The joint teams include personnel from the army, NDRF, DSG, Coast Guard, Navy, and MEG, along with three locals and one forest department employee.
Kerala Health Minister Veena George on Friday said that ICUs are ready in Wayanad hospitals to provide intensive care to those rescued from the disaster areas.
Minister also added that the post-mortem procedures of 199 dead bodies have been completed. Apart from this, DNA samples of 130 body parts were also taken.
Rescue teams used GPS coordinates from aerial drone pictures and cell phones, including the last location of people who lived in the landslides-hit areas of Wayanad to help locate survivors trapped under the debris, amidst accelerated search operations after the completion of the 190-foot-long Bailey bridge by the Army.
Wayand Collector Meghashree D R told reporters that the worst-affected Mundakkai and Chooralmala hamlets have been turned into six zones where 40 teams of rescue personnel have been deployed along with cadaver dogs and heavy machinery to look for survivors and unearth remains from the debris.
The 40 teams will conduct search operations in six zones of the landslides-hit areas -- Attamala and Aaranmala (first), Mundakkai (second), Punchirimattam (third), Vellarimala village (fourth), GVHSS Vellarimala (fifth), and riverbank (sixth).