PETTIMUDI: Two days ago, Vishal and Navami spread smiles in the workers’ colony, cracking jokes and cheering everything in their neighbourhood. On Saturday, as rescue workers lifted the bodies of the children from the debris, wails of pain and anguish filled the air. Scenes of agony and distress unravelled at Pettimudi, the estate workers’ colony located 15 km away from Rajamala in Munnar, which was swept away by a devastating landslide on Thursday night.
The earthmover operator spotted a cot and mattress as he removed a boulder from the heap of slush around 11am. Rescue workers rushed to the spot and carefully removed the debris when they stumbled upon the bodies of Vishal and Navami. Digging deeper, they spotted two more bodies — Sivakami and Paneerselvam, the parents of the children. It seems the four-member family left the world in sleep without realising the tragedy.
The rescue workers managed to pull out nine bodies from the landslide spot till 5.30 pm on Saturday. Two days have passed since a portion of the Pettimudi hills came crashing down sweeping away the 40 estate workers quarters in the valley, burying 80 people under heaps of slush and huge boulders. Only 12 people belonging to two families escaped the tragedy and 26 bodies have been recovered. There is no trace of 42 people who were present in the colony when the tragedy struck.
“As per our information, there were 83 people in the colony on Thursday night. There was no power supply in the colony for four days and the mobile network was also not available. People living in the upper colony woke up hearing the sound. But nothing could be done as it was pitch dark,” said ward member M Shantha.