A grave landslide took place in Idukki's Pettimudi area taking as many lives. As the search operations in the landslide-hit Pettimudi continued on Thursday for the 14th day, bodies of two more deceased persons, including a pregnant woman and a teen girl, were retrieved by the rescue workers. With five people still not found, the total death toll in the disaster has risen to 65. The bodies of 15-year old Sivaranjini and 26-year-old Muthulakshmi, who was identified to be pregnant, were found kilometers away from the disaster spot.

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Earlier on Thursday, the body of another 15-year-old, identified as Koushika, was discovered. Only 12 people out of the 82 residents in Pettimudi had managed to escape this tragedy. It was in the wee hours of August 7 morning that about 30 families of plantation workers living in line houses or ‘layams’ in Idukki’s Pettimudi, were massively hit by a major landslide, following torrential rain in the region. The rescue workers also have the aid of a team from Bharathidasan University in Tamil Nadu, who are constantly assisting them with handling the Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), which can detect bodies buried deep underground.

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The local people are also actively participating in the search operations, officials were reported saying. Meanwhile, the state Child Rights Commission chairman visited the children who survived the landslide. There are two children who have lost both their parents in the landslide. This landslide has really changed the whole scenario of the area as instead of 'Layams' only dead bodies could be seen. 

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