Amid continuing efforts to find those missing in the devastating landslides in Wayanad, bodies of 16 unidentified victims were laid to rest at a mass burial site at Puthumala near Meppadi, on Monday, the seventh day following the calamity.

The funeral services were held after interfaith prayers. Each victim is buried first according to the Christian ritual, then according to the Hindu ritual, then according to the Islamic ritual, with prayers and last rites.

The funeral rites of the remaining 11 bodies and 154 body parts of unidentified victims are progressing in Puthumala on Monday evening. 200 graves have been prepared at the site in Puthumala provided free of charge by Harrison Malayalam Plantation Limited. Each body part will be buried as a separate corpse.

Bodies of eight unidentified victims were laid to rest at the mass burial site at Puthumala on Sunday evening at the Puthumala site after performing interfaith prayers

In this connection, the search teams comprising the Army, the NDRF, fire force and volunteers continued their efforts to trace the persons who went missing in the devastating landslides that hit the Chooralmala, Mundakkai areas last week, on Monday. To locate bodies under the debris, a drone based intelligence buried object detection system is being used.

Additional Director General Police (ADGP) Ajith Kumar said a committee would be formed to identify the demolished houses and buildings, where search operations are to be conducted. The committee will include members from local self governing bodies, local residents, police and army personnel.

Meanwhile, the death toll in the devastating landslides in Wayanad rose to 396 with more bodies recovered on Monday. Two dead bodies were recovered from Churalmala village during Monday’s search. However, the official death toll figure stands at 222.The death toll may go up further as around 180 people are still missing.

Around 2,500 people, who were rescued from the landslide-hit areas in Chooralmala and Mundkkai are housed at various relief camps in Meppadi and other villages in Wayanad district. According to information given by the district administration, as many as 2514 people belonging to 723 families are staying in 16 relief camps functioning in the district.

Meanwhile, Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav said on Monday that illegal human habitat expansion and mining in the state’s fragile region resulted in the landslides in Wayanad. He said the Kerala government allowed illegal human habitat expansion and mining in the state’s fragile region which resulted in the devastating landslides in Wayanad.