GPS coordinates, cell phone location data used to focus rescue operations: Wayanad district Collector

Wayanad, Kerala: GPS coordinates from aerial drone pictures and cell phones, including last location, of people who lived in the landslides-hit areas have been used to identify spots where search and rescue operations can be focused, the Wayanad District Collector said on Friday.

Wayand Collector Meghashree D R told reporters that the worst-affected Mundakkai and Chooralmala hamlets have been turned into six zones where 40 teams of rescue personnel have been deployed along with cadaver dogs and heavy machinery to look for survivors and unearth remains from the debris.

She also said that from aerial photographs taken by drones, GPS coordinates of certain search locations have been identified.

Besides that, cell phone data, including last location, of people who lived in the search zones were also used to identify spots where rescue operations can be focused, she said.

"We mapped all this data and gave it to all the teams so that the search and rescue operations can proceed efficiently and speedily," the Collector said.

The 40 teams will conduct search operations in six zones of the landslides-hit areas -- Attamala and Aaranmala (first), Mundakkai (second), Punchirimattam (third), Vellarimala village (fourth), GVHSS Vellarimala (fifth), and riverbank (sixth).

According to the district administration, as of Thursday night, 190 people have died and over 200 are missing in the massive landslides that hit Wayanad district three days ago on July 30.

On Friday morning, Kerala ADGP M R Ajith Kumar said that approximately 300 people were still missing.

Several people remain missing and rescue operators are battling adverse conditions, including waterlogged soil, as they search through destroyed homes and buildings looking for survivors or bodies.