Hundreds of mourners gathered in Kannadikkal, Kerala, to pay their last respects to lorry driver Arjun, whose body was brought home after he went missing in a landslide in Karnataka’s Shirur village. Arjun and his vehicle were recovered from a river more than two months after the disaster, which struck on July 16 and resulted in the deaths of eight individuals.
State officials, including Forest Minister A K Saseendran, and other representatives were present as the ambulance carrying Arjun’s body crossed into Kerala on Saturday morning. Emotional scenes unfolded as friends, neighbors, and fellow drivers wept upon seeing the motorcade enter the village.
“We believed till a few days back that Arjun was alive… never thought his body would be brought home,” a neighbor lamented. The public homage at his house saw an outpouring of grief from the community.
Minister Saseendran noted the unprecedented turnout, while Lok Sabha MP M K Raghavan praised the collaborative efforts over the 71-day search operation, highlighting it as a rare instance in the country’s history. With the recovery of Arjun’s body, the death toll from the landslide has risen to nine.
Arjun’s younger brother, Abhijith, lit the pyre in a poignant farewell. The search operations, which began immediately after the landslide, faced delays due to severe weather and high river currents, halting temporarily on July 28.
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