Kerala man missing, lorry’s last GPS location was landslide site: Police
Local residents have expressed fears that at least one lorry and three cars are still stuck under the debris left behind by the July 16 landslide on the National Highway 66 in the Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka.
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Four houses on the other bank of the Gangavali River have collapsed into the river and one person, Hanumanta Gowda, got swept away. (Express Photo)THREE DAYS after a lorry driver from Kerala went missing following a landslide on NH-66 near Karwar in Karnataka’s Uttara Kannada district, district police Friday said his vehicle’s last GPS location was the site of the landslide.
The driver, identified as Arjun from Kozhikode who was driving a Benz lorry with the registration number KA-15-A-7427, has been missing since the landslide on Tuesday that damaged houses and pushed trucks and vehicles into the flooded Gangavali river that flows beside the highway.
So far, seven bodies have been recovered from the site.
Rescuers are trying to locate the lorry driver and several others who are believed to have stopped at a roadside hotel when the landslide occurred.
“The GPS location for the truck driver from Kozhikode, Kerala was found at the site of the landslide,” Uttara Kannada Police said in a statement.
The landslide occurred at Shirur village under Ankola police station limits around 8.30 am on July 16.
“As a result of the landslide, mud came from the national highway towards Gangavali river and buried lorries, gas tankers, vehicles and the house/hotel of a local, Lakshmana Bommaiah Naik,” the district police said.
According to the police, six of the seven bodies have been identified. The dead were identified as 42-year-old Lakshmana Naik, his wife and their two minor children; Chinnannan, a tanker driver; and R Murugan, a driver. A dismembered body has not been identified yet.
Local residents fear that at least one lorry – suspected to be that of Arjun’s — and three cars still remain buried at the site.
“Deep search metal detectors and skilled search teams are arriving from Bangalore and Hubli-Dharwad to find the lorry, cars and people stuck under the mud of the collapsed hill in Shirur,” the police said.
A PTI report quoted Karwar SP Narayana M as saying that continuous rain has been hampering the rescue operations. “But we are hopeful that we will be able to locate (those missing). We are with the family (Arjun’s). We will do whatever possible to trace out the lorry.”
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, meanwhile, has directed state Chief Secretary V Venu to take necessary action.
Kerala’s Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan also spoke to Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar over phone and requested urgent action to trace Arjun. “Shivakumar assured that rescue operations are being expedited and all necessary steps are being taken,” said Satheesan’s office.
With PTI inputs
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