HYDERABAD: Murphy and Maya, the highly trained canines from the K-9 squad of Kochi City Police, arrived at the SLBC tunnel collapse site on Thursday, ready to take on one of the toughest missions of their careers.
However, these cadaver dogs — specifically trained to detect human remains — did not begin search operations and are expected to assist in locating the eight men trapped in the tunnel.
Murphy and Maya, both Belgian Malinois, are known for their exceptional search abilities. Maya is a female, while Murphy is a male. Given the difficult conditions inside the tunnel, the dogs will be deployed for short, high-intensity search sessions, lasting about an hour, depending on their stamina. Before initiating the actual search, their handlers, Havildar Prabhath and Civil Police Officer George Manuel, assessed the surface and tunnel conditions to ensure the dogs’ safety and effectiveness.
Speaking to TNIE from the site, Manuel said, “Despite having an impressive track record of locating 54 bodies in 19 days during the Chooralmala landslide search operation, this is the first time Maya and Murphy are involved in a tunnel collapse search.”
Both dogs have been part of the Kerala Police since 2020 and are specially trained for cadaver search operations.