Wayanad landslides: Kerala Forest department’s search of Soochipara waterfalls finds four bodies 

Wayanad landslides: Kerala Forest department's search team locates bodies downstream of Soochipara waterfalls, prompting reinforcement of search efforts in forested area.

A Kerala Forest department’s search and rescue team on Friday (August 9, 2024) located four bodies, one mangled beyond recognition, downstream of Soochipara waterfalls some distance away from the landslide-hit localities in Vythiri taluk in Wayanad district of Kerala.

An Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopter is airborne from Kalpetta to the remote forested locality in Sunrise Valley to airlift the bodies to a morgue at Sulthan Bathery.

According to initial information reaching the Kerala government, the team discovered the bodies that had washed up on the rocks near Kanthanpara, a rapid downstream of Soochipara waterfalls. 

The find has reportedly impelled the district administration to reinforce the search team in the densely forested locality. 

Officials suspect that more bodies of victims washed downstream from landslide-hit Chooralmala, Mundakkai, and Attamala localities could remain trapped in the overhang of bushes, water, reeds, gnarled tree roots and boulders on the edges of the waterfall and rapids in the remote and densely forested Sunrise Valley. 

Earlier, the government had said the search operation in Sunrise Valley would cover either side downstream of Soochipara waterfalls till the Chaliyar river in Malappuram district.