Search teams believe they have location of Kerala truck buried by landslip in Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka

seems to be at final stages with experts being able to trace the location of the missing truck and driver in Gangavali river at the landslip site near Shirur village in Uttar Kannada district.

Teams searching for a truck and its driver buried in mud during a landslip in Gangavali river near Shirur village in Uttar Kannada district of Karnataka seem to be inching closer to the location of the vehicle. The truck is believed to buried upside down 40 feet under the water.

The search is being carried out jointly by the Uttar Kannada district administration with the assistance of various agencies of the government of Karnataka.

On July 16, many people and vehicles were trapped in mud following a landslip near Ankola in Uttara Kannada. Among them was a truck from Kozhikode and its driver, Arjun. The truck is registered in Kerala and is equipped with GPS. The vehicle data received by the truck manufacturer indicated that the driver had started the engine twice between July 16 and 20. At times, Arjun’s mobile phone came online. However, the truck’s location remained unchanged. 

Superintendent of Police of Uttar Kannada district Narayan told The Hindu that, with the help of his friend in the U.S., he was able to get the location coordinates, which were subsequently sent to ISRO for confirmation. Through satellite images, they were able to confirm the presence of a heavy metal body under water.

Subsequently, the data was put to further scrutiny to ascertain the possible location of the truck.

“A deep penetrating radar from Noida, in Uttar Pradesh, is being brought to the site. On its arrival, a Coast Guard chopper will take the equipment over the river to identify the exact location. Once that is done, navy personnel will fix boundaries before divers go under water to search for the body of the driver, which is likely to be stuck in the driver’s cabin,” Mr. Narayan said.

Uttar Kannada Deputy Commissioner Lakshmi Priya expressed confidence about a positive outcome by the end of the day, if the weather remained congenial.