T'malai landslide: 5 bodies recovered, search on for 2 others

FIVE bodies, trapped in a house buried under mud and rocks triggered by a landslide due to the torrential rain on Sunday, were recovered late on Monday at Annamalaiyar Hill in Tiruvannamalai district following the hectic search operation since Monday early morning.

- RAJALAKSHMI SAMPATH

Efforts are on to rescue two others who are trapped, sources said.

The landslide buried two adjacent houses in VOC Nagar. Bodies of R Meena (25), her son Gowtham (9) and S Ramya (13), M Vinothini (14) and M Maha (10) have been identified. N Rajkumar (28) husband of Meena, and his daughter Iniya (7) are still missing.

According to residents, Rajkumar, Meena and other parents of the locality are all employed at a brick kiln at Thandarampet, 20km away. Most families in the area are relatives and would take care of each other's children when the parents go to work at the kiln. Some of them would stay and work at the brick kiln all week long and would come home to their families on weekends, they added.