36 killed in Amboori landslip

By Our Staff Reporter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, NOV. 10. As many as 36 persons were killed, 24 of them from a single household, when they were caught under a massive landslip that destroyed four houses at Amboori in Neyyatinkara taluk, about 45 km from here, at 8.45 p.m. on Friday.

Among the dead are 15 women and an equal number of children. The toll is expected to be over 40 by the time the search by police and Fire Force is completed.

The calamity occurred when a portion of a 700-metre- high hillside strewn with boulders came tumbling down in a heavy rain, sweeping away four houses that stood in its nearly one km downhill path. Only two persons in these four houses survived the landslip. They were identified as C.D. Thomas (52), a rubber merchant, and his nephew, Thomas Joseph (12).

At the time of the tragedy, more than 30 relatives of Thomas from Pune in Maharashtra, Alappuzha and Kottayam, had gathered at his house for participating in the betrothal ceremony of Thomas' son, Binu, which was scheduled to be held at a local church the next day.

The other victims were residents of the three houses which stood higher on the hillside. Thomas' house, which stood at the base of the hill, took the brunt of the massive onslaught from tonnes of mud and boulders which came crashing down at high velocity.

All the close relatives of Thomas, including his wife, Leelamma, son Binu, daughter Bina, son-in-law Romeo and grandchildren Felix and Leo were killed in the landslip. Thomas also lost his brother Sebastian and nephew in the tragedy.

Mr. Thomachan, who lives opposite to Thomas' house, was among the first to reach the spot. He told The Hindu that it was raining heavily from 6 p.m. At 8.30 p.m. the power went off.

``I was about to sleep after saying my prayers when a deep rumble could be heard closing in from a distance. There was a crunching sound and I heard Thomas scream for help. I ran out and saw Thomas lying caught under a mangled concrete beam where the verandah stood. Beside him was his brother Sebastian who was already dead,'' he said.

Thomas' sprawling partly-terraced house was razed to the ground and buried under a tonnes of mud and boulders. A jeep and a car which were parked in front of the house were pulverised.

The 12 members of the families in the three houses that were situated on the higher side of the hill were also killed in the landslide.

The families were those of Asokan (30), Titus and Cheenu Panicker. Titus, who was not at his house at the time of the mishap, lost his wife Nirmala and two children, Nisha (13) and Nishanth (12). Police also recovered the bodies of Asokan, his wife Latha (28) and their three children.

Alerted by the local residents, police and Fire Force personnel rushed to the spot from Thiruvananthapuram. A crisis management cell under the Director General of Police, Mr. Joseph Dawson, commandeered generators and earthmovers to get the rescue operations rolling.

The mud and rock were sifted using earthmovers to look for bodies. By 8 a.m, most of the bodies, some of them mutilated beyond recognition, were recovered.

A large number of bodies of women and children were found buried in the sludge near the kitchen portion of Mr. Thomas's house. Fire Force men shifted the bodies to the nearby Good Samaritan Hospital where post- mortem was conducted.

The Chief Minister, Mr. A. K. Antony, visited the disaster spot along with his Cabinet colleagues, Mr. K.M. Mani (Revenue), Mr. K. Sankaranarayanan (Finance), Mr. P.K. Kunhalikutty (Industries) and Mr. G. Karthikeyan (Culture).

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Southern States
Previous : 'ISKCON's programme has shown results'
Next     : Savanth against major statute changes