Shirur landslide: Bodies of 5-year-old girl, tanker driver retrived; another still missing

KARWAR: Two more bodies were extricated from the site of the massive landslide at Shirur in Ankola taluk on Thursday. So far, six bodies of the ten missing people have been recovered. They include four from Shirur, a tanker driver and another another unidentified persons, according to Deputy Commissioner Lakshmi Priya.

On Thursday, rescuers found the body of five-year-old Avantika, the daughter of canteen owner Lakshman Naik, whose entire family was buried under the landslide. Avantika’s body was found in the Gangavalli river near the Gokarna bridge, according to the Ankola tahsildar.

The bodies of Avantika and Chinnan were found on Thursday.

Rescue workers also found the body of tanker driver Chinnan (55) near Manjaguni village in Ankola taluk. Chinnan hailed from Namakkal in Tamil Nadu had was on his way from Mangaluru to Goa. He had stopped at the canteen for tea when the tragedy struck. Deputy Commissioner Lakshmi Priya handed over Rs 5 lakh compensation to Chinnan’s family and offered condolences.

Deputy Commissioner Lakshmi Priya handed over relief papers to Chinnan’s family.

Meanwhile, Arjun (30), the driver of a 12-wheeler truck carrying timber Joida to Kerala, continues to be missing. The GPS location of the truck shows it to be at the location of the landslide. Arjun hails from Kozhikode in Kerala and was a regular at Lakshman Naik’s canteen. His family has urged the district administration to locate him at the earliest.

Truck driver Arjun is still missing.

On the other hand, the gas tanker, which was floating in the Gangavali river and secured by NDRF men, seems to be leaking gas and villagers have been moved to rescue centres. Efforts to retrieve the tanker have been hampered by rain.

The DC said that out of three tankers, two are unloaded. “So those two are safe. The one that is inside the river is loaded. It has gas”. She further added that the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team of 24 members, including a fire service team has undertaken the rescue operation. “We have the support of the Navy and Coast Guard, who are within the district. They have given us their safety gear as well as personnel to handle the operation. We also have this quick response team from the gas companies”.

She said that the National Highway Authority of India is trying to clear one side of the road to allow traffic, which came to a halt following the landslide. As per NHAI’s report, they are trying to clear one side of the road so that they can allow the traffic to pass, which will happen again depending on the rain. “We expect it to be done in another 24 to 48 hours, but the entire excavation will take some time…”, she added.

In a fresh landslide on National Highway-66, a high-tension pole collapsed on the way between Honnavar and Shirur on Thursday. The incident was caught on a mobile phone camera. Landslides were also reported at Devarabhavi near Gokarna in Kumta taluk and huge cracks were seen on the hills.