Daijiworld Media Network - Madikeri (SP)

Madikeri, Jun 14: In a tragic incident which happened near Makutta, Virajpet on the night of Tuesday June 12, a lorry cleaner was washed away when a hillock gave way and he slid down along with rainwater.

The deceased was Sharath (24) from Kootuhole. There had been a huge landslide near Makutta on Tuesday night. Vehicles were stranded at the site for long. At that time, the branch of a tree fell on a waiting truck. Cleaner of the truck, Sharath, got down to remove the branch. At that instant, the hilly terrain suffered landslide under the feet of Sharath, who was washed away with muddy water in a jiffy.

Fire tenders from Madikeri and Gonikoppal immediaely undertook operation to find him at night but failed. They resumed the work on Wednesday and found his body about half a km away from the spot.

As widespread landslides happened in Makutta, the work of clearing of mud and trees was undertaken. Kodagu district deputy commissioner, P I Sreevidya, MLA, K G Bopaiah, subdivisional officer, Konareddy, tahsildar, Govindaraju, and otheres visited the spot and reviewed the relief and rescue operations.