Death toll in Kerala landslide goes up to 55
Idukki: The death toll in the landslide at Pettimudi near Munnar in the high-range Idukki district has gone up to 55 with three more bodies being recovered from the debris on Wednesday, officials said.
Operations led by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) are continuing in the area even on the sixth day today to trace 15 more missing people.
"Till now, we have recovered 55 bodies. Earlier we rescued 12 people. Now 15 people are missing. The search is on even on the sixth-day, weather is favourable today for the search operations," Idukki Collector H Dineshan told PTI. The Collector said 82 people were affected in the landslide on August 7.
The settlements of estate workers were swept away by the landslip near Rajamala here and various agencies have been engaged in the rescue operations since then.
Huge mounds of earth and slush had destroyed a row of 20 one-room 'row houses' made of tin and asbestos sheets, which was housing at least 82 workers and their families early Friday morning.
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Two killed as college tour bus crashes into parked tanker, lorry near Maravanthe
Kundapur: Two persons died and several students were injured after a college tour bus rammed into a tanker and a goods lorry parked by the roadside near Maravanthe Beach in Trasi on Wednesday afternoon.
The bus was carrying final-year B.Com students of Rambhapuri College from Shivamogga district. According to sources, the group had left for the tour two days ago.
There were around 50 persons in the bus, including 24 male students and 23 female students.
The students had visited Murdeshwar and were travelling towards Udupi on Wednesday when the accident occurred.
Police said the bus driver reportedly lost control of the vehicle, following which the bus first hit a parked gas tanker and then crashed into a goods lorry stationed ahead.
The front portion of the bus was badly mangled in the impact. Preliminary information said the bus cleaner and a cooking assistant travelling with the group died in the accident. Several injured students were shifted to different hospitals in Kundapur for treatment.
