The five-day-long search by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) at Karinchola ended on Monday with the recovery of the body of the last landslip victim. The body of Nafeesa Rahman was recovered around 5 p.m. She had gone missing after the incident on Thursday. With this, the total number of victims rose to 14.
Though a ground penetrating radar was brought to the spot after the rescue team faced hurdles in locating the last missing victim, it failed to support the mission. With the excess deposit of mud and rocks, the places marked on the basis of the radar scanning had proven wrong. Finally, the search was carried out in a conventional way using earth removers.
Revenue Department officials said it was the biggest ever natural calamity in Kozhikode district in the last two decades. Among the 14 victims, eight belonged to a family comprising grandparents and grandchildren. The incident had shaken the region, and around 200 persons from the village had been shifted to relief camps, they added.
Within minutes after the incident, local residents and a group of voluntary organisation members had swung into rescue operations. Five houses were completely buried under soil. Three residents had a close shave. The waterlogged narrow village roads made it difficult for the fully-equipped rescue squads to reach the location. Fire and rescue services units from all stations in Kozhikode joined the two NDRF units for search operations.
Fire and Rescue Services official Baburaj said the rescue teams had rendered selfless service. “Many local residents and youth organisations had come up with free food and field support. Though the muddy land threw in the biggest challenge, all team members relentlessly worked to locate the missing persons,” he added.
Rescue squad members also expressed satisfaction over the field support extended by Ministers, police, and senior government officials. There were no onlookers as all contributed their best to handle the crisis, they recalled.
“Villagers like me had sleepless nights. There was little scope to save any missing person, but all stood with hope. The death of eight persons, including small children from a family, was the most tragic news,” said Faisal, a local resident who assisted the rescue squads. He said no rehabilitation package would be enough to compensate the loss of the families.
Members of local bodies said the families in the relief camps would be shifted to their own houses after completing the emergency repairing work. They also said efforts were on to identify land for constructing houses for those who had lost their properties in the incident. Medical support too will continue, they added.
