Bengaluru, 23 July

The body of a woman who went missing following a landslide in Shirur village in Uttara Kannada district was recovered from the Gangavalli river on Tuesday during search operation, taking the death toll to eight, police said.

According to officials, the National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force, Fire and Emergency Services and the Navy are continuing operations at the site and in the Gabgavalli river. "During the search operation, we recovered one more body, which was of a 65-year-old woman. The decomposed body was recovered from the Gangavalli river. Search operations are underway to trace three more people, including the lorry driver (Arjun) from Kerala," Superintendent of Police (Karwar), Narayana M told PTI.

The Indian Army Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Relief Team comprising an officer, two Junior commissioned officers and 55 others of Maratha Light Infantry Regiment, Belagavi, and one Junior commissioned officer and two others from College of Military Engineering, Pune, are also engaged in the exercise.

Besides the rescue apparatus already in the field, the army team has specialised tools including ground penetration radars, deep search metal detectors, rafts with overboard motors and specialised climbing equipment, officials said.

As per the satellite images from the Indian Space Research Organisation of the day of the massive landslide on 16 July, there could be a possibility of a truck being pushed into the river.

The Army team is conducting the operation with Ferrex Locator - GPR (Ground Penetrating Radar), a specilised device for locating under water and soil metals. Vehicular traffic has been suspended on National Highway 66 following the landslide.