Wayanad landslides: IAF helicopters airlift rescue teams to search for victims at remote Soochipara waterfalls
The Hindu
Indian Air Force helicopters airlift search teams to remote Wayanad landslides in Kerala using high-end gear for rescue operations.
Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopters airlifted two search and rescue teams to the remote Soochipara waterfalls and the densely forested Sunrise Valley beyond on August 6 to scout for bodies of Wayanad landslide victims washed downstream by the massive earthfall on July 30.
At around 11.30 a.m., the choppers lifted off with rescue teams comprising the Kerala Police’s Special Operations Group (SOG), the Army, and Forest department officials from the Subha Krishna Memorial Jain (SKMJ) school grounds in Kalpetta in Wayanad.
Army’s high-altitude operations experts are on board. The SOG personnel also specialises in abseiling from helicopters to reach hostile terrain below. The teams are carrying high-end rappelling gear.
Revenue Minister K. Rajan, who heads the Cabinet subcommittee in charge of Wayanad, briefly outlined the hazardous nature of the Soochipara operation on August 5.
He said the search teams would scour the dense undergrowth on the edges of the waterfall and at least two rapids downstream.
The operation entailed negotiating through the thick undergrowth and searching for bodies in the overhang of bushes, water reeds and gnarled tree roots dipping into the water.
Mr. Rajan said the operation would cover either side downstream of Soochipara waterfalls till the Chaliyar river in the Malappuram district.
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