Munnar: The body of a tourist who went missing after a landslip occurred at Kundala in Idukki district has been recovered.
The body of R Rupesh (40), a native of Muthappan Kavu in Kozhikode, was found by rescuers around 7.30 am on Sunday.
The body was found entangled in a tree 50 metres away from the tourist van which had been washed away on Saturday afternoon.
The mortal remains were taken to Rupesh’s native place after the legal formalities were completed.
Rupesh is survived by his wife Kiran and daughter Sidhardhi. He had returned to Kerala from abroad during the COVID-19 pandemic. He was running an education training centre at Muthappan Kavu.
The van in which 11 persons, including Rupesh, had come on a tour to Munnar, was washed away in the landslip that occurred at Kundala at 3 p.m. on Saturday. All other occupants of the vehicle escaped.
The tourists, including his wife, daughter and close relatives, had reached a Munnar hotel on Saturday morning. They had left for Top Station after lunch and on the way, it began raining heavily as they reached near the Kundala dam.
The landslip occurred at Pudukkadi near Kundala when the team was travelling back after cancelling the visit to Top Station, leaving the van stuck in the slush.
Rupesh and the driver led the occupants of the van to other vehicles waiting in the front and back. All on a sudden, the landslip occurred, carrying away Rupesh and the van.
Nishant Kannan, a relative of Rupesh who escaped the tragedy, said it was after planning for nearly a year that the team had decided to make the Munnar visit.
The traffic restrictions on the Munnar-Vattavada road will continue. The Collector had banned traffic on the road after the landslip at Pudukkadi on Saturday.
Though the mud, boulders, and trees that had accumulated on the road had been cleared, vehicles are barred from the area. Only the vehicles of local residents are being allowed through on the stretch.
Area lashed by heavy rains
Areas from Mattupetty to Vattavada have been receiving heavy rains since the commencement of Northeast monsoon. Usually, the area experiences isolated rain when the rest of Kerala is battered by heavy monsoon rainfall.
Munnar experienced just a drizzle on Saturday when the landslip occurred at Kundala.
