MEPPADI: Anxious families and relatives thronged the MSA auditorium at Meppadi in Wayanad on Friday, where 20 dead bodies or remains of the Mundakkai-Chooralmala landslides victims are kept for identification. The bodies were recovered from the Nilambur area and shifted to Meppadi on Thursday night.
“Our friend Saraj, a Chooralmala native, had been visiting the mortuaries these past few days, checking every freezer box in search of his mother, Saritha. His father Jagatheesh and younger brother Sharan were found dead on Tuesday itself,” said Ananthu P K, a friend of Saraj, who is studying MCA at Pondicherry University.
Saraj is the only survivor in the family as he was staying in Pondicherry at the time of the landslide. So, when he heard more bodies have been shifted to Meppadi, Saraj, along with his maternal aunt, reached the auditorium early in the morning on Friday.
“Only the upper part of Saritha’s body was found and the face was unrecognisable,” said Saraj’s aunt. Saritha’s body was released after they identified a bangle on her hand.
Identifying a dead body has become a tough task for the relatives. Many of them inspect the bodies several times to confirm, mostly unsuccessfully.
Similarly, hundreds of people keep visiting the Meppadi panchayat community hall, Government High School Meppadi, everyday in search of the bodies of their family members. Most of the bodies are in a decomposed state.
“As many as 53 of my family members, from distant to close relatives, went missing or have died in the landslide. Me and the other survivors in my family have been visiting the mortuaries in search of their bodies, inlcuding my father Abdul Nassar’s, since day one. So far, we could identify only 17 members. But in majority of the cases, the bodies or the remains are unrecognisable,” said Rashid, a Mundakkai resident.
In Meppadi GHS, five remains have been kept for three days, but no one could recognise them.
“When we saw the pictures of the bodies sent by Nilambur officials, we recognised our uncle. But when the body reached here, it was in a decomposed state and we were not sure whether it was him,” said Reshma Sajeevan, a Puthumala resident.
Over 80 bodies are kept in Meppadi panchayat’s community hall for identification. “If two families claim the ownership of a body, then we take up DNA testing for confirmation,” said Rahim Ahammed, a volunteer. Only around 145 bodies have been identified till now.
UNIDENTIFIED BODIES TO BE BURIED IN PUBLIC CEMETERIES
Unrecognisable bodies of those who died in the Mundakkai-Chooralmala natural disaster will be buried in public cemeteries in the district. Facilities for burials have been arranged in Kalpetta municipality and, Vythiri, Muttil, Kaniyambetta, Padinjarathara, Thondarnad, Edavaka and Mullankolly grama panchayat cemeteries.
74 unidentifiable dead bodies are kept at various places in Meppadi panchayat. The dead bodies will be handed over to the concerned secretaries of the above-mentioned places. Registration department IG Sreedhanya Suresh has been appointed as the nodal officer for preservation, transfer and cremation of dead bodies.