Wayanad: The death toll in the Wayanad landslide rose to six on Thursday after rescue teams recovered three more bodies from the disaster site in Kalladi, where search operations entered their third day.
The recovered bodies were identified as those of migrant workers — surveyor Azharuddin Ansari from Uttar Pradesh, engineer Rahul Sharma from Himachal Pradesh, and excavator operator Mohammed Imran from Bihar, officials said.
Earlier in the day, Kerala ministers A P Anil Kumar and T Siddique told reporters that one body had been recovered from Zone 1 of the search area, while another was found in the river.
"Searches will continue in Zones 1 and 2. We will also focus on areas along the river," Anil Kumar said.
Siddique said postmortem examinations would be conducted at Vythiri Taluk Hospital, after which the bodies would be embalmed at the Government Medical College Hospital in Kozhikode.
The landslide occurred on July 7 at the site of the Anakkompoyil–Meppadi tunnel project, which is being built to connect Wayanad and Kozhikode districts.
With the recovery of the three bodies, two people remain missing.
Senior CPI(M) leader Pinarayi Vijayan visited the landslide-hit area on Thursday and also met those undergoing treatment at the hospital. He was accompanied by senior party leaders M V Govindan and M V Jayarajan.
After inspecting the disaster site, the leaders visited the relief camp before meeting the injured at the hospital, where Vijayan enquired about their condition with the doctors.
Chief Minister V D Satheesan had said on Wednesday that locating the missing persons remained the government's top priority.
He had also said that of the 10 people injured in the incident, three had been discharged, four remained hospitalised in stable condition, and three were in the intensive care unit, including two who were in critical condition.
