Kozhikode: The search for the missing Kozhikode man, who is believed to be trapped in a truck in a landslide at Shirur village in Ankola taluk of Karnataka's Uttara Kannada, resumed on Saturday morning.
The rescue operations were suspended on Friday night due to heavy rain, Dakshina Kannada district collector said. The officials have decided to take Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) from Bengaluru for searching the spot hit by the landslide.
Meanwhile, Kerala Chief Secretary V Venu said that he is in constant touch with his counterpart in Karnataka, and that they were hoping that the rescue would yield positive results. A special team from Kerala arrived in Shirur on Saturday morning to help with the rescue efforts.
According to reports, three including Kozhikode native Arjun are missing after the massive landslide hit the National Highway 66. They are feared trapped in the mud that flowed down the hill following a massive landslide in the area. During the search, seven bodies were recovered on Friday morning. Arjun's family has requested the involvement of Indian Army in the rescue operations. Arjun's sister and husband were allowed into the area after negotiation with officials.
Navy and NDRF personnel searched the spot that was recorded in the GPS of the vehicle by using metal detectors to identify the presence of the vehicles under the mud. Arrangements including artificial lights, and earth movers are taken to the spot to expedite the search. But the rescuers were forced to suspend the search around 9 pm as heavy rain and night hours challenged the mission.
Truck not in river
A team of divers from the Navy completed their search for the truck in the river on Friday evening. According to officials, divers could not find the truck in the riverbed. Following this, the rescue team launched the search using metal detectors after accessing GPS details of the truck from the makers Bharat Benz. The spot recorded on the GPS is being excavated in search of the trapped truck. Mudslide and rain are disrupting the search operations from evening.
The truck driven by Kozhikode native Arjun and other vehicles went missing on July 16 after a landslide hit the National Highway 66 stretch at Ankola. Manorama News reported that around five vehicles are feared trapped in the debris. It is learnt that a huge portion of a hill close to the road collapsed and fell over the road amid heavy rain.
Meanwhile, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday wrote to Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah requesting to deploy radar for the search.
Arjun's family is pinning hope on his return as his mobile phone was ringing even on Friday morning. Talking to the media, they revealed that Arjun contacted them on Monday after which there has been no communication from him. They appealed to the authorities to continue the search until they found him.
