500 to 600 personnel from Army, NDRF, Police carrying out rescue op in Wayanad, 1000 rescued so far

Wayanad (Kerala) [India], July 31 (ANI): The death toll in the Wayanad landslide tragedy has climbed to 150 as of July 31 morning.

The Commandant of the Para Regimental Training Centre, Brigadier Arjun Seagan, said that 500 to 600 personnel from the NDRF, army, state police, forest officials, and volunteers have been carrying out the rescue operations on Wednesday.

He further added that the teams present are trying to build the bridge again to enable faster movement of the earth-moving equipment and make the digging process easier.

“The rescue operations have been ongoing since yesterday morning. Yesterday, due to bad weather conditions, the rescue teams were not able to rescue a lot of people. Around 500 to 600 personnel from the NDRF team, army, state police, forest officials, and volunteers have been carrying out the rescue operations today. We are trying our best to build the bridge again so that we can move the earth-moving equipment inside and make the digging process easier. We have been doing the process manually as of now,” he said.

Further, he added that the airlifting would be started as soon as the weather conditions improved.

Brigadier Seagan said, “As soon as the weather conditions improve, we will start airlifting people. 150 deaths have been recorded so far. Around 200 to 250 individuals have been rescued as of now. First aid is being provided to these people. There is not much danger as of now since the rain has stopped. The rescue operations will most likely continue today and tomorrow. We are doing our best to rescue the people.”

Earlier today, the Indian Army ramped up its rescue operations and successfully evacuated more than 1,000 people from affected areas to safety. The Army’s Southern Command said that up to 1,000 personnel have been rescued so far using man-made bridges and human effort.

In a remarkable display of coordinated efforts, Indian Army Columns along with NDRF, State rescue teams, Coast Guard, Indian Navy and IAF, have been relentlessly working to address the crisis.

Two additional Army Columns airlifted from Thiruvananthapuram by Indian Air Force AN 32 and C 130 landed at Calicut at 10:30 PM on Tuesday. These columns commenced their onward journey to Wayanad at 6:45 AM on Wednesday.

Engineer Task Force from the Madras Engineer Group and Centre arrived on-site at 02:00 AM. A class 24, 170 Ft bridge is planned to be erected at Chooralmala. Reconnaissance at Meppadi-Chooralmala Road is underway. Essential bridging assets including three sets of Bailey Bridges, JCBs and TATRA trucks, are en route to Wayanad. Army Control Centre, co-located with State Administration Control Room established at Mepaddi by Commandant PARA Regimental Centre.

Despite adverse climatic conditions and poor visibility, Indian Air Force Helicopters also conducted search & rescue operations in Wayanad rescuing stranded people from a narrow strip of land.