With the recovery of three more bodies, the death toll in the Pettimudy landslip rose to 61 on Tuesday. Nine persons are still missing.
Two of the bodies were identified as that of Aswinraj and his grandfather Anandaselvam. The body of the third person is yet to be identified. The bodies were recovered from close to the river where the search operation was being concentrated for the past few days.
It was believed that more bodies were washed away in the flash flood and chances of them in the river or riverside were high, those in the search team said. The services of tribal youths were also used in the search operations.
The estate area, where debris from the landslip had accumulated, was searched using scanners.
Idukki landslip: symbols of a simple, reclusive life of estate workers lie strewn among the debris
Devikulam Subcollector S. Premkrishnan said ground penetrating radar was used to search the area. The radar team marked three spots at the site and the area would be searched on Wednesday. He said radar signals could reach over six ft in the debris.
The Eravikulam National Park had lost three staff members in the landslip. Officials on Tuesday handed over financial aid to the relatives of the deceased.
