NEW DELHI: Search operations continued on Friday (Aug 2) in the Wayanad district of India's Kerala state to locate victims of Tuesday's landslides as the death toll in the disaster crossed 300.
Kerala health minister Veena George said on Friday morning that the post-mortem of 199 bodies had been completed and in addition DNA samples of 130 body parts were taken.
Indian military personnel helping in aid and rescue work found four people alive in an isolated area on Friday.
Many people are still reported missing since the landslides caused by heavy monsoon rains hit the region in the early hours on Tuesday (July 30).
Army engineers constructed a 190-feet-long Bailey bridge to connect the worst-hit areas of Mundakkai and Chooralmala.
The torrent of water, mud and rocks swept away hundreds of people asleep in their homes and left a trail of destruction in the picturesque hill district.
Many of those killed were workers and their families on tea and cardamom estates.
The southern state is prone to landslides and flooding in the monsoon season.
In one of the worst natural disasters to hit Kerala in recent years, more than 400 people were killed in floods in 2018. – Bernama
