Foresters have rescued four tribal children and their parents from a mountain cave in landslide-hit Wayanad, scripting a rare piece of good news amid the gloom of 49 children being declared dead or missing.

Four forest officials from Kalpetta and Mundakkai had trekked uphill for about 7km on Thursday, looking for survivors, when they found the family of six waiting for help in a rock cave in Chenkuthhaya, a tribal hamlet.

The team chanced upon the family when they spotted the mother deep inside the forest. The family members were taken to a forest anti-poaching camp and provided with food and water.

Forest officials told reporters they would ensure the family’s safety until they decide to return to their hamlet when the weather improves.

“Forty-nine children are either dead or missing,” state primary education minister V. Sivankutty told reporters on Friday. The bodies of several children have been recovered.

Another family — of two adult males and two adult females — was rescued on Friday thanks to an army-built Bailey bridge that has made landslide-hit Mundakkai
accessible again.

Revenue minister K. Rajan, who heads the cabinet subcommittee monitoring relief and rescue, said the four had been stranded in their partly destroyed house, cut off by landslides, in Padavettikunnu near Mundakkai.

Rescue efforts had so far focused mostly on Chooralmala downhill since the landslides had swept away the only bridge that connected it to Mundakkai, 3km uphill.

However, 140 army personnel slogged 31 hours to reconnect Mundakkai with Chooralmala with a 120ft Bailey bridge by Thursday evening. On Friday, rescuers alerted by relatives about the stranded family were able to reach them.

“The Bailey bridge is making all the difference in reaching out to areas that were so far beyond reach,” minister Rajan said.

A defence PRO said John K.J., Jomol John, Christene John and Abraham John were rescued and “evacuated through a safe route to a nearby relief camp”.

“The family was stuck in the house since Tuesday. They were safe and healthy, but scared,” a defence source said.

Search intensifies

The Kerala government has instructed eight police stations along the River Chaliyar to form teams — made up of their personnel, local people familiar with the area and divers — to look for bodies.

So far, 58 bodies and 95 body parts have been recovered from the banks of the Chaliyar. Authorities suspect more bodies are lying in the muddy debris of the landslides in Mundakkai and Chooralmala.

The landslides had swept entire buildings and trees, along with sleeping people, into the River Iruvanjipuzha that flows into the Chaliyar. The force of the landslides has split the Iruvanjipuzha into two streams.

Mental health

The state government has deployed psychologists to address mental health issues among the survivors.

While a team of mental health experts from the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (Nimhans), Bengaluru, is expected to reach Wayanad on Friday, specialists from the Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Kozhikode, are already working with the survivors.

“Children, pregnant women and elderly people will be given priority (by the mental health experts),” state health minister Veena George said in a release.

The health department said that depression and anxiety caused by the disaster may require long-term attention. Those with withdrawal symptoms arising from addiction to liquor or drugs have been identified and are being treated by the team, the release said.

The team is also providing counselling to health workers, rescue workers including the police, revenue officials and others dealing with the harrowing aftermath of the disaster.

Mental health assistance is available also through 14416, a 24-hour toll-free number, the health department said.

The district administration said that 9,328 people displaced by the landslides were being housed in 91 relief camps.

Cong promise

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Friday promised that the party would build more than 100 houses in Wayanad, a PTI report said.

Rahul was speaking to reporters after meeting officials of the district administration and the panchayat along with Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and other senior party leaders, the agency report added. The Congress team had arrived in Wayanad on Thursday.

Additional reporting by PTI