Battling for over 20 hours amid incessant rain, the rescue team on Monday recovered the bodies of all the seven victims trapped under the debris of mudslide in the temple town of Tiruvannamalai.

The town was battered by cyclone-induced continuous torrential downpour and the mudslide occurred on Sunday evening when a boulder from the Annamalai hill accompanied by soil rolled down and hit the houses at the foothill.

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The Tiruvannamalai district police said all the seven victims, including five children, were recovered. They were identified as Rajkumar (32), his wife Meena (26), their son Gowtham (9) and daughter Iniya (7) and three other children of their neighbour, Vinodhini (14), Maha and Ramya, both aged 12. The bodies were taken to the hospital.

The boulder which hit the house was weighing about 35 tonnes, the rescue team told reporters and the narrow street was filled with slush and stones, making rescue efforts a challenging one.

On Monday, rescue efforts were continued for the second day with the NDRF team, comprising 30 members and two sniffer dogs, along with personnel from the Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services engaged in the task. The house, in which the family is trapped, is in a narrow street located on the foothill, making it difficult to move JCBs and excavators.

Tamil Nadu Public Works Minister EV Velu and District Collector Bhaskara Pandian were at the site and oversaw the rescue efforts. The Minister also visited three other locations were mudslides were reported with people who were rattled vacating their houses.

After the bodies were recovered, a pall of gloom descended on VOC Nagar area of the temple town, which is about to celebrate the famed annual Karthigai Maha Deepam festival on December 13. The nearly 3000-ft Annamalaiyar hill is considered very sacred by both Hindus and Jains.