The search operation in Shirur village, Uttara Kannada district led to the recovery of a woman's body from the Gangavalli river on Tuesday. The woman's death has increased the death toll from the recent landslide to eight, police confirmed to PTI. On Tuesday, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Fire and Emergency Services, and the Navy continued their search operations on both the landslide area and the Gangavalli river.
"During the search operation, we recovered one more body, which was of a 65-year-old woman. The decomposed body was recovered from the Gangavalli river. Search operations are underway to trace three more people, including a lorry driver (Arjun) from Kerala," stated Superintendent of Police (Karwar), Narayana M, to PTI.
Meanwhile, the Indian Army has also deployed its Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Relief Team, which includes an officer, two junior commissioned officers, and 55 personnel from the Maratha Light Infantry Regiment in Belagavi. Additionally, one junior commissioned officer and two others from the College of Military Engineering in Pune are participating in the rescue mission, as per a report on PTI.
The Army team is using specialized equipment, such as ground-penetrating radars, deep search metal detectors, rafts with outboard motors, and advanced climbing gear, officials said.
Satellite images from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) taken on July 16, the day of the landslide suggest that a truck might have been pushed into the river. Vehicular traffic on National Highway 66 has been suspended due to the landslide.