AMN
Death toll in Sunday’s forest fire in Karunkani hills, Tamil Nadu has gone up to nine. Out of ten injured eight women have been admitted to Rajaji Medial College Hospital Madurai and two are admitted in Bodinaickanoor government hospital.
Information centres have been opened in Theni with mobile numbers 94450 00586 and 99947 93321. Police sources have confirmed that 10 tourists had been safely rescued.
Two groups of 36 tourists, mostly women, were on a trekking expedition to Karunkani hills and were caught in a forest fire.
Multiple teams including from the fire service, police and defence forces have been pressed into service.
Indian Air Force has sent two helicopters on the directives of Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman after she was approached for help by Chief Minister K Palanisami.
Mr Palanisami has said rescue operations are underway on a war footing and his deputy O Panneerselvem, Forest Minister Dindigul C Srinivasan and top officials are overseeing the operations.
Conservator of Forests, Madurai Circle, R.K.Jegania said the Chennai-based trekking club that had organized the expedition from Kurangani to Bodi in the Western Ghats did not get permission from the forest department for the trekking expedition.
A 36-member team comprising 26 women, three children and eight men started the unauthorized trek on Friday night and reached the Kerala side of the forest by Saturday. They started the trek from Kolukkumalai hills in Kurangani forest region on the Tamil Nadu border on Sunday morning and were supposed to reach Bodi by evening and travel back to Chennai. However, the team was caught in the forest fire yesterday afternoon. Their plight came to light only in the evening prompting the Central and state governments to launch a massive rescue operation.
The wildfire has been raging for the past one week in Kurangani forest and the intensity was much higher than previous years. Unaware of the forest fire, the team had trekked into the forest.